"Beyond Art with Love”
World Tour Art Exhibition • SIMON MA
- La Pelanda at MACRO Testaccio, Rome, Italy
Introduction
Organizer: MART
Curator: Achille Bonito Oliva
Coordinator: Paolo De Grandis
‘Great Love’ can be considered a state of mind that only exists within a spiritual space. It is a kind of love that transcends all senses; it is a love that resides in your life and soul. It is a feeling that is not visible, nor is it tangible. The Great Love can only exist in the individual mind as an abstraction. We hope to use the language of art to express this feeling of Great Love and interpret it as ‘sky, water, earth and benevolence’.
The world-renowned Russian author, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy once said, “Art is a mirror of life, the origin of art is to convey the feeling of need.” Additionally American art critic Leo Steinberg, on a critique of contemporary art, had once said, “the essence of contemporary art is the expression of the world’s stress, anxiety and tension, because art is assumed to be a mirror of life.”
The world is eternally in turbid, chaotic state. I want to be able to use the truth in art to show everyone. And hopefully they will find their soul in Elysium.
- 21st Century Crossover Artist Simon.Ma Xing Wen
Art, especially contemporary art, does not adhere to the idea of having to create work that is happy. It can also be used to vent negative emotions, and be used as tools or weapons to comment on the indictment of society. However negative the mood of the artwork may be, it should provoke the viewer into leading a more benevolent way of life, to deliver a more positive energy to nature, life and society; to give one’s all to be a better person and change social attitudes for the better.
In Buddhism there is a saying that goes, “calmness of the mind and clarity of the heart is the source of love. In 3000 worlds, within 9 days, if one is pure of heart, everywhere is the Pure Land.”
Many creative artists draw inspiration from nature, and one of the most basic aspect of human nature, love from the heart, is no exception. When one embraces a pure heart and a calm mind, one can pure itself of all negative emotions and earthly ties. It is to be able to see things from the outside, to see the whole world, the whole universe, and blend oneself with the surrounding environment; to turn the ‘I’ into ‘Us’. To be able to not only think of oneself and be more caring to people, nature and society. With the sculpture ‘Benevolent Horse’, the idea that the artwork encapsulates is the relationship between man and animal, the love, loyalty and friendship that binds them. In another artwork, ‘Dancing Water Drops’, the sentiment behind this piece is that water nourishes the Earth and all who inhabit it. The use of metal and its reflective properties is meant to reflect the world, the idea that nature, people, and society should be one in the world, the universe’s ‘Great Love’. The piece ‘Melting Color’ shows the gradual integration of color into water, to show the flow of the colors as they descent and dance, to show the beautiful harmony between the two solutions. This is meant to represent the relationship between people and nature; to have a beautiful and harmonious link. Since the work comes deeply from the heart, love is overflowing from the work and the sense of art has gone beyond the realm of art itself.
An interpretation of love can be ‘sky, water, earth and benevolence’. This is how the 21st Century Crossover Artist Simon Ma chooses to interpret his exploration of love in art. Ma’s ‘unlimited crossover’ philosophy and belief in infinite love also encapsulates all the unknown possibilities of the mind. To Ma, the first and foremost important aspect is love. An equal aspect to love is benevolence, and Ma expresses these two ideals with ‘water’ and ‘crossover’ art. Ma believes that water is the source of all things love, as it nourishes people and all living creatures, being with the ability to love. He also believes that water is a charitable source, as it benefits all things without struggle. Water is also deeply connected to Ma’s ‘Crossover’ ideal in the sense that water can ‘crossover’ to many different from, be it a liquid, solid or gas, and how water can crossover into different territories.
On June 24th, 2015 Simon Ma will hold his new exhibition “Beyond Art with Love” at La Pelanda, Marco Testaccio, Italy. Similarly, Ma will also take part in the Milan Expo 2015 in Italy with the theme of ‘‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for life’’. As of late, Bloomberg TV has also called Ma ‘China’s most famous artist of the 21st century’. Simon Ma has also hold honors of being a distinguished artist at the Venice Biennale, the UN Cultural Ambassador of Art and Sino-Italian Cultural Ambassador.
The leading theme for this exhibition will be ‘water’ closely followed by the concept of ‘sky, water, earth and benevolence’. There are no words to describe the beauty of Heaven and Earth, and as such is water. As water is the natural form of purity and goodness, it is as if those essences of water have reached all corners of the world. The way Simon Ma conveys his ‘crossover’ art is to mix east and western influences, as well as utilizing different materials, forms and techniques. Ma uses his water droplets to evoke different concepts and ideas including water, love and turning the abstract into tangible art. The various forms and states of the water droplets is to ‘see the world through water drops’ and the concept of Great Love. Water is again used as a call for people to cherish water and nature, to convey joy and pleasure.
This exhibition, following the success of “Ink • Brush • Heart” presented at La Biennale di Venezia, has been showcased in Beijing, Milan, Shanghai, Chengdu, Ningbo, Hangzhou, at the Shanghai Museum of Contemporary Art and Museum of Contemporary Art 1844, Ningbo. The displays in the exhibition include the “Dancing Water Drops” series, paintings, sculptures, as well as interactive installations such as the video displays of “Dance” and “Merge”. To celebrate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Italy, Ma creates also a 200 meter long scroll with the word ‘water’ drawn and painted over it. The art installation represents the trade agreement between Italy and China during the Silk Road period, where shipments of goods were done by seafaring. Ma hopes to be able to convey the sense of community and love between the two countries, as well as the huge cultural, commercial and historic time shared with this art piece.
Another ‘crossover’ philosophy of the 21st Century Crossover Artist Simon Ma is to interpret the word ‘love’ so that his works of art is not just a physical object, it represents something more. Ma wants to show a universal love; a love for art, love for nature, love of people, love for social education. And in turn, this love will also reflect the notion of benevolence of the heart.
