His fable-driven work is cinematic in nature and has been exhibited in top Paris, New York, and Toronto galleries and featured in a major show on contemporary Chinese art at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
In 2008, he won the British-based Spider Awards' Black and White Photograph of the Year, one of the most prestigious photography prizes in the world.
Therefore it was a surprise to discover the rising art mandarin's work on view at an immigration attorney's office last week in the building headquartering the New Times office on Biscayne.
Several snaps from Maleonn's surreal Days on the cotton candy series are on exhibit as part of "Growing Pains of a Lotus" heralding the Chinese New Year at the fresh-hatched Art Lexing ersatz gallery located in the law office of Jose E. Latour.
The exhibit also features work by top contemporary Asian artists Bo Yun, Cui Xiuwen, Wang Xiaojin, and Ye Hongxing. Many of the works on display have also appeared at the Pompidou Center in Paris and London's Tate Modern Museum.
It was organized by Lexing Zhang, a 26 year-old native of Xinjiang, China, who recently completed her Masters degree in Paris where she met many of the artists she will represent here. "This all sort of fell into place while Lexing was looking for a space," says Latour who writes a blog on international immigration law. "This was going to be a Band-Aid until she found a permanent space but the reception has been so positive we are going to continue lending her the space to organize her events."
Last Wednesday night, over a hundred art lovers squeezed into the law offices for Zhang's opening boasting the type of eye-popping work one is more accustomed to seeing at top-flight art fairs or in museums shows.
"We are currently the only space located in Miami devoted exclusively to showing this quality of contemporary Chinese art" Zhang says. "It sure transformed the bland walls you usually find in a law office," Latour added showing off the spiffy Maleonn piece behind his desk.
See Maleonn et. all at Art Lexing (4500 Biscayne Boulevard , Suite 300, Miami). Through February 25. By appointment. Call 305-299-9732 or visit artlexing.com.
