There is an unmistakably cinematic quality to the horses of Chinese contemporary artist Ma Dongmin. Rendered in layered blue hues, his equine figures emerge through mist-like textures and blurred contours, hovering between states. This tension between stillness and release forms the conceptual backbone of Fire Horse – The Decisive Moment, a major exhibition arriving at the Leica Store South Beach Quarter from 4 to 7 June 2026.
Radiant Storm-120X150 (left), Fire Horse Surge-150X200 (right)
Ma Dongmin brings his celebrated Blue Fire Horse series to Singapore’s Leica Store South Beach Quarter, showcasing the intersection of photography and painting through themes of motion and emotion. For Leica — whose identity has long been tied to documentary photography and visuals — the concept is foundational. Presented by Art Vault Asia in partnership with Leica Camera, the exhibition marks the first oil-on-canvas showcase hosted by Leica in Southeast Asia. His signature “misty” lens serves as both visual style and philosophical position which is described as “a meditation on the ephemeral nature of existence, the transience of youth and the mystery that resides at the heart of all living things”.
Lunar Flame – 80X90 (left), Sapphire Stillness- 120X150 (right)
Using a Leica Q camera, the Beijing-born artist photographs horses before translating those observations onto canvas. Yet these works are not literal reproductions of captured images. Instead, they explore what exists just outside the frame — the emotional residue of movement and restraint. His horses are symbols as much as subjects, standing in for ideas of human ambition and transformation. This symbolism feels particularly poignant in 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse within the Chinese zodiac cycle — historically associated with volatility, energy and dramatic change. Ma’s Blue Fire Horse collection leans into this mythology — the animals appear neither wild nor domesticated, existing in an unresolved state, charged with tension.
“Blue is the colour of the sky, and it aligns with my philosophy,” notes artist Ma Dongmin. “It carries an innate quality of permanence, while my horses capture a cinematic sense of movement and energy. My creative process begins with observing and photographing horses using a Leica camera, before translating those moments onto canvas, capturing what I see as a decisive moment suspended between stillness and motion”.
The exhibition’s centrepiece, however, may be Registered Kiss, a large-scale reinterpretation of Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic 1945 photograph V-J Day in Times Square. Reimagined through Ma’s monochromatic blue palette, the work transforms one of photography’s most recognisable moments into something more introspective. The jubilant spontaneity of the original image gives way to memory and the reflection of collective emotion.
In many ways, that painting encapsulates the broader thesis of the exhibition which aims to showcase images that evolve through reinterpretation. Photography becomes painting where the captured moment becomes an emotional afterimage. This ambiguity has become central to Ma’s international appeal. A graduate of Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts, the artist has spent decades developing a visual language influenced as much by Eastern philosophical thought as by European painters like Lucian Freud and Gerhard Richter.
Celestial Drift-100X130 (left) Horizon of Dreams-100X120 (right)
His works have appeared at the Venice Biennale, while auction results for his Blue Horse paintings have consistently climbed into six-figure territory. Major auction lots of Blue Horse Series works have gone under the hammer across Beijing Hanhai, Beijing Council and Poly International, with each commanding results between USD 330,000 and USD 540,000; signalling Ma Dongmin’s rising prominence within the global contemporary art market. That positioning is reflected in the exhibition’s extensive ecosystem of luxury partnerships spanning automotive, finance and lifestyle sectors, from Lamborghini to Citibank. Today, contemporary art is no longer being framed solely as cultural capital but as part of a broader luxury portfolio strategy aimed at high-net-worth collectors across Asia.
Ma’s horses are compelling not because they symbolise wealth or exclusivity, but because they visualise emotional uncertainty in a world increasingly defined by acceleration. Their blurred edges and suspended movement mirror the instability of contemporary life itself. Renowned contemporary art critic and curator Yang Wei notes, “The existential conditions and psychological states of all people are metaphorically represented by Ma Dongmin through the figure of the horse. This touches upon the relationship between humanity and nature and even more so, the relationships between people. It is entirely fair to say that Ma Dongmin is borrowing the expressions and postures of horses to unfold a panorama of the human world and also to excavate the diverse psychological worlds of humanity”.
As contemporary art becomes increasingly intertwined with luxury culture and investment strategy, Ma Dongmin’s work stands apart for its emotional depth. Beyond auction results and institutional recognition, the Blue Fire Horse series resonates because it visualises something profoundly human: the tension between control and freedom, stillness and acceleration.
The exhibition brings together 23 oil-on-canvas works from Ma’s celebrated Blue Fire Horse Collection 2026, including new works such as Twilight Ascension, Radiant Storm, Velvet Thunder and Celestial Pulse. Also on view is the landmark canvas Registered Kiss, presented in Singapore for the first time.
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