MA Dawei (MA Da-wei) (1954 - )

Born in Guangzhou, Ma’s father, Ma Guochuan is a famous scholar in archaic scripts, calligrapher and seal carver. Apart from family training, Ma learnt seal script from the famous Chinese calligrapher Wu Zifu, traditional ink painting and Lingnan ink painting skills from renowned painters Li Xiongcai, Wu Hao and Chen Zixi. He was also acquainted with Chinese painting masters including Li Keran, Song Wenzhi and Cheng Shifa. In 1991, he received Chinese Landscape Painting Diploma from The School of Continuing Education of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. In the 1990s, he began writing autobiographies and articles on masters of Chinese art in the monthly journal Hanmo. Currently, he is member of China Artists Association, founding member of Hong Kong Artists Association and Secretary of Chinese Ink Painting Society Hong Kong.

Ma’s works have been selected into the 9th, 10th and 12th Exhibition of Works of Overseas Chinese of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in the National Fine Arts Exhibition, China, “Contemporary Hong Kong Ink Paintings Exhibition 2006”, “Ink of Two Cities – Shenzhen and Hong Kong Metropolitan Ink Painting Exhibition” in 2008, 2009 and 2014, and “The 6th International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen”. He was also nominated for the art award 2006 of Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Arts.

Ma is skilled in painting landscapes and cityscapes characterized by dense and dark ink tones and vigorous brushwork with a touch of dynamism. Several years ago, he started to experiment with the use of images of antiques to create new artistic imagery, giving traditional form a contemporary artistic vocabulary. In recent years, he has also attempted to revitalize the zun textural brush technique for painting mountains and rocks, thus revisiting one of the traditions of Chinese painting. His works show a distinctive blending of various traditional forms and elements with contemporary pictorial composition and reinterpretation, and these combine to form his personal artistic style.

Polygon-shaped Jointed Rock Columns
2010
Vertical scroll, ink on paper
140 x 70 cm

Provenance
Acquired directly from the artist

Exhibited & Published
A Tale of Two Cities – Paintings and Calligraphy by Shanghai and Hong Kong Artists, K. Y. Fine Art & Shanghai Art Academy, 2-7 Oct 2015, P.62-63.