Ma Desheng 馬德升 was born in 1952 in Beijing. Due to polio as a child, he was handicapped and not allowed to enter an art school. Ma is self-educated and worked initially as a woodblock print artist and poet and later began to paint with traditional Chinese ink and oil. He was the cofounder and spokesman of the Stars (Xingxing 星星画会) group of avant-garde painters who were active in the underground between 1979 and 1983. During this time, Ma produced boldly graphic, monochromatic woodblock prints. The Stars exhibited in 1979 outside the National Gallery, but their show was closed by the Chinese government after only 3 days, having already attracted thousands of visitors and the international press. The exhibition was a breakthrough for the Chinese avant garde that would change the course of Chinese art forever.

Ma left China, as so many intellectuals and artists in the 1980s and moved to Paris in 1986 where he continues to be active as an artist. Ma was knighted in October 2021 by the French Minister of Culture for his contributions to the arts.