Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998

27 August 2010 -
25 September 2010

opening reception on Friday,
27 August, 7-9 pm

EN
DE

Martin Wong
Works 1980 - 1998

 

27. August - 25. September 2010
Eröffnung am Freitag, dem 27. August, 19-21 Uhr

 

Martin Wong (1946-1999) wurde in Portland, Oregon, geboren. Aufgewachsen ist er in San Francisco, wo er seit den späten 60er und frühen 70er Jahren in der Kunstszene der San Francisco Bay Area aktiv war. Dort war Martin Wong auch Mitglied der Performancegruppen The Cockettes und Angels of Light. 1978 zieht Martin Wong nach New York, wo er in der Lower East Side Manhattans lebt. Seit dem Anfang der 80er zeigt Martin Wong seine Arbeiten im Kontext der dort gerade entstehenden Ausstellungsräume und Galerien wie ABC No Rio, Semaphore Gallery, Exit Art und PPOW. Neben seiner Praxis als Maler war Martin Wong ein Sammler und Connaisseur von unterschiedlichsten Dingen. So hat er asiatische Antiquitäten gesammelt und selbst auch damit gehandelt, aber auch die New Yorker Graffiti Szene verfolgt und eine der weltweit größten Graffiti Sammlungen zusammengetragen, die er 1993 dem Museum of the City of New York geschenkt hat. 1999 ist Martin Wong in San Francasico an AIDS gestorben.

 

Martin Wongs Bilder sind in institutionellen Sammlungen, wie der des New Yorker Metropolitan Museum und des Whitney Museum of American Art, dem San Francisco Museum of Modern Art und dem de Young Museum vertreten. Ein Archiv mit Martin Wongs Materialien, Skizzenbüchern, Korrespondenz, biografischen Dokumenten, Fotografien, Collagen, Videoaufzeichnungen, sowie Teilen Martin Wongs persönlicher Bibliothek wurde in der Fales Library der New York University eingerichtet.

 

Wir freuen uns, Martin Wongs Arbeiten erstmalig in Europa zu zeigen und präsentieren einen Überblick über Martin Wongs Bilder von 1980 bis 1998. In Vitrinen zeigen wir eine Gruppe von Collagen von Martin Wong, sowie Fotomaterial von Martin Wong, das von den Künstlern Danh Vo und Julie Ault aus den Beständen der Fales Library ausgewählt wurde. Außerdem zeigen wir ein Video, in dem der Filmemacher Charlie Ahearn, der mit Martin Wong befreundet war, den Künstler portraitiert hat. Charlie Ahearn ist international vor allem wegen seines Films ‘Wild Style’ (1982) bekannt, seiner frühen Hommage an die New Yorker Hip Hop und Graffiti Szene, der zu einem Kultfilm wurde.

Martin Wong
Works 1980 - 1998

 

27 August - 25 September 2010
opening reception on Friday, 27 August, 7-9 pm

 

Martin Wong (1946-1999) was born in Portland, Oregon and raised in the Chinatown district of San Francisco, California. He studied ceramics at Humboldt State University, graduating in 1968. During the 1970s he was active in the San Francisco Bay Area art scene and was involved with the performance art groups The Cockettes and Angels of Light. In 1978 he moved to Manhattan, eventually settling in the Lower East Side, where his attention turned exclusively to painting. He was first exhibited in a group show at ABC No Rio in 1982 and went on to have one person shows at Semaphore Gallery, Exit Art and PPOW. Wong was a collector and connoisseur of everything from graffiti to Asian antiquities. His graffiti collection grew to be perhaps the largest in the world; in 1993 he donated it to the Museum of the City of New York. Martin Wong died in San Francisco from an AIDS related illness in 1999.

 

Martin Wong’s works can be found in institutional collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the de Young Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The Martin Wong Papers reside at the Fales Library, New York University, and include sketchbooks, correspondence, biographical documents, video cassette recordings, photos, graffiti-related materials, and parts of Wong’s personal library.

 

With this exhibition we are proud to present Martin Wong’s work for the first time in Europe. The exhibition features paintings by Martin Wong from 1980 to 1998, as well as early collages and photographs from the archive of Martin Wong at the Fales Library, that were selected for the exhibition by the artists Danh Vo and Julie Ault. To accompany the exhibition we present a video portrait of Martin Wong by filmmaker Charlie Ahearn. Among other things Ahearn is known
for his early film ‘Wild Style’ (1982) documenting the New York Hip Hop and Graffiti scene.

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

“Psychiatrists Testify: Demon
Dogs Drive Man to Murder”, 1980
acrylic on canvas
91,5 x 121,5 cm

Martin Wong

“Clones of Bruce Lee”, 1981
acrylic on canvas
91,5 x 121,5 cm

Martin Wong

“Son of Sam Sleeps”, c. 1983
acrylic on canvas
91,5 x 121,5 cm

Martin Wong

“Court Room Shocker: Jimmy the Weasil Sings Like a Canary”, 1981
acrylic on canvas
91 x 91 cm

Martin Wong

“Psychics Unlock Beauty Secrets of the Stars”, 1981
acrylic on canvas
91 x 91 cm

Martin Wong

“Atlantic City Pandemonium, Beauty Queens in Peril”, 1985
acrylic on canvas
91,5 x 91,5 cm

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

“Sweet Oblivion”, 1983
acrylic on canvas
214 x 272 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, n.d.
photo collage, mounted
on cardboard
35 x 40 cm
Fales Library, New York University

Martin Wong

Untitled, n.d.
photo collage,
mounted on cardboard
35 x 40 cm
Fales Library, New York University

Martin Wong

Untitled, n.d.
photo collage,
mounted on cardboard
35 x 40 cm
Fales Library, New York University

Martin Wong

Untitled, n.d.
photo collage,
mounted on cardboard
35 x 40 cm
Fales Library, New York University

Martin Wong

Untitled, n.d.
photo collage,
mounted on cardboard
40 x 35 cm
Fales Library, New York University

Martin Wong

“Stanton Near Forsyth”, 1984
acrylic on canvas
122 x 162 cm

Martin Wong

“Reckless (Sharp)”, 1991
acrylic on canvas
86 x 122 cm

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

“Voices”, 1981
acrylic on canvas
184 x 122 cm

Martin Wong

“Voices”, 1981
acrylic on canvas
91,5 x 91,5 cm

Martin Wong

“El Caribe”, 1988
acrylic on canvas
76 x 107 cm

Martin Wong

“Mrs. Liberty Face”, 1990
acrylic on linen
80 x 118 cm

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

Untitled (rooftops), c. 1988
acrylic on canvas
60,5 x 101 cm

Martin Wong

“Restoration Project”, c. 1990
acrylic on canvas
61 x 76 cm

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

photographic material from the archive of the Martin Wong Papers at Fales Library New York University, NY

Martin Wong

“Fireman”, c. 1990
acrylic on canvas
53 x 65 cm

Martin Wong

“Chinese New Year’s Parade”,
1992-94
acrylic on linen
213 x 306 cm

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

“Ferocactus Peninsulae V. Viscainensis”,
1997-98
acrylic on canvas
76 x 122 cm

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

“Chin Cactus Gymnocalcium”,
1997-98
acrylic on canvas
51 x 76 cm

Martin Wong

“Gymnocalcium (Star cactus)”,
1997-98
acrylic on canvas
51 x 76 cm

Martin Wong

“Fero Cactus”, 1997-98
acrylic on canvas
51 x 76 cm

Martin Wong

“Resumé Consumé
de Martin Wong”, c. 1975
ink on paper
45 x 30,5 cm

Martin Wong

“Cockettes now appearing
at Midnite at the Palace”, c. 1970
ink on paper
44,7 x 30,3 cm

Martin Wong

“Cockettes”, c. 1970
ink on paper
35,5 x 27,3 cm

Martin Wong

“Cockettes in Pearls
of Shanghai”, c. 1970
poster
35,5 x 21,6 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, c. 1970
ink on paper
35,9 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, c. 1970
ink on paper
35,5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, c. 1970
ink on paper
35,5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, 1970
ink on paper
35,5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, 1970
ink on paper
35,5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Works 1980 - 1998
installation view Galerie Daniel Buchholz, Berlin 2010

Martin Wong

“Clones of Bruce Lee”, 1992
acrylic on canvas
114 x 139 cm