REO MA

Reo Ma (b. 1992) manifests his ideas via creative impulses and a lack of inhibitions. Without any formal art training, he approaches art-making like an inventor, experimenting with materials and techniques as he learns through blunders and mistakes. Reo Ma’s creativity has free rein in the myriad of mediums and materials with which he works. With a background in fashion design, the Hong Kong native (b. 1992) has an affinity for hands-on production: he welds metal, moulds concrete and dismantles vehicles, all skills he taught himself. His sculptural objects thus take on a raw, unrefined visual quality that reflects the spontaneity and immediacy of his art-making. He also draws from his personal experiences – not only for context, but to provoke questions about collective standards. Working with scavenged materials and personal history, Ma does not shy away from disclosing his own insecurities while probing at those of others. Binding together pieces of unrefined plywood and steel, complete with dents and splinters, Ma preempts his finished works by presenting the raw process of making them. In 2021, Ma initiated War on Culture, a pseudonym that anyone can take on as long as they create works against the homogenization of culture. In the fashion of guerrilla art, he has been putting up sculptural works since 2021 in the streets of Hong Kong, London and Paris.