We are excited to welcome back Pony Ma for his second solo exhibition with our gallery. ‘Take the Bitter with the Sweet’ will showcase 11 new acrylic on panel paintings from the Brooklyn-based Taiwanese painter. Using the iconography of pop culture and the surreal visual vocabulary of dreams, Pony Ma’s work evokes the uncanny images concocted by our subconscious minds. Each painting is a riddle, and each person’s experiences and memories interact with the symbols in my work to conjure a meaning as unique as each viewer. The mystery is the point: each painting is a mirror, inviting the viewer to recognize the inner workings of their minds which Pony has laid out on the canvas. Like the dreams and childhood memories that inspire them, Pony’s paintings are sometimes humorous, sometimes dark, always just beyond the reach of explanation

Artist Statement for ’Take the Bitter with the Sweet’:
Last year brought some of the biggest challenges of my life. I faced constant financial uncertainty, suffered an elbow injury that required surgery followed by nine months of rehabilitation, and made the difficult decision to move away from a city I had called home for 19 years. Every decision and every obstacle drained my energy, and there were moments when I wanted to give up. During that dark time, the love and support of my family, along with the smile of my newborn son, became the reasons I kept moving forward. Little by little, that support began to outweigh the negativity and transform into motivation. Working on my paintings has become a safe place where I could shut out the noise, close the door on reality and escape to the haven I’ve created in my studio.

For this exhibition, I am not painting my struggles or giving a voice to my hardships. Instead, I invite you into my favorite place, where we can experience moments of peace and lightheartedness together, free from the weight of everyday challenges. Sometimes, taking the bitter with the sweet allows us to discover beauty even in life’s most difficult times.