Martin Wong

Works on Paper

7 February 2025 -
5 April 2025

Opening Friday, 7 February, 6-8 pm

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DE

Martin Wong

 

Works on Paper

 

7. Februar - 5. April 2025

 

Die zeichnerische Praxis begleitet Martin Wongs gesamte künstlerische Arbeit und war eine wichtige Konstante in seinem Werk. Unsere fünfte Einzelausstellung widmen wir ausschließlich seinen Zeichnungen. Wir zeigen Arbeiten auf Papier aus den Jahren 1968 bis 1997.

 

Martin Wong (1946-1999) wurde in Portland, Oregon, geboren und wuchs in North Beach, in der Nachbarschaft von San Franciscos Chinatown auf. In San Francisco absolvierte er die High School, und studierte danach an der Humboldt State University in Arcata Keramik. Diese Ausbildung prägte auch seine Malerei, vor allem die von ihm verwendeten Farben (er bevorzugt erdige Rottöne, gebranntes Siena, Ocker und Umbra) und seine Sensibilität für Materialien. Nach seinem Abschluss 1970 an der Humboldt State University, reist Wong nach Europa, in den Nahen Osten und nach Asien, um dort mit lokalen Keramikkünstlern zu arbeiten. Neben seinen keramischen Arbeiten entwickelte Wong seit den späten 60er Jahren auch Kalligraphien, ein erstes Anzeichen für sein lebenslanges Interesse an Dichtkunst, Graffiti und Zeichensprache. Zwischen 1970 und 1973 lebt Martin Wong wieder in San Francisco wo er im Umfeld der queeren Performancegruppen Cockettes und Angels of Lights arbeitet, deren Mitglied er zeitweise auch wird. Nach 1973 geht Wong zurück nach Humboldt County, wo er sich in den nächsten Jahren auf seine Malerei konzentrieren wird. 1978 zieht Martin Wong nach New York, und lebt dort ab den frühen 1980er Jahren in der Lower East Side. Wong wird Teil der dort entstehenden Kunst und Poetry Szene und interessiert sich auch besonders für Graffiti. 1994 wird Martin Wong als HIV-positiv diagnostiziert. Er entscheidet sich aufgrund der besseren medizinischen Versorgung in San Francisco zu seinen Eltern zurückzukehren, zu denen er ein sehr enges Verhältnis hatte und mit denen er bis zu seinem Tod 1999 zusammenlebt.

 

 

 

 

Malicious Mischief, die erste große institutionelle Überblicksausstellung zu Martin Wong in Europa, wurde im CA2M, Centro dos de Mayo, Madrid (2022-2023) eröffnet, mit weiteren Stationen im KW Institute, Berlin (2023), Camden Art Centre, London (2023) und dem Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2023-2024). Zuvor wurde eine amerikanische Retrospektive mit dem Titel Human Instamatic im Bronx Museum (2015), Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2016) und Berkeley Art Museum (2017) gezeigt. Martin Wongs Werke wurden in zahlreichen musealen und internationalen Ausstellungen ausgestellt, zuletzt auf der 24. Biennale von Sydney (2024) und in The Way I See It: Selections from the KAWS Collection im Drawing Center, New York (2024-2025). Seine Arbeiten sind unter anderem in den Sammlungen des Museum of Modern Art, New York; des Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; des Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; des Art Institute of Chicago, des San Francisco Museum of Modern Art und der Tate Modern, London, vertreten.

 

Die Ausstellung Above Ground: Art from the Martin Wong Graffiti Collection ist derzeit noch bis August 2025 im Museum of the City of New York zu sehen. Im Herbst diesen Jahres wird die Asia Society in New York eine Einzelausstellung zum Werk von Martin Wong präsentieren.

Martin Wong

 

Works on Paper

 

7 February - 5 April 2025

 

Drawing was a crucial component and constant within Martin Wong’s various artistic practices. In our fifth solo exhibition dedicated to Martin Wong, we are showing an overview of his works on paper from 1968 to 1997.

 

Martin Wong was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in North Beach, neighboring San Francisco’s Chinatown. After graduating high school in San Francisco, he studied ceramics at Humboldt State University in Arcata. His study of ceramics would exert an immense influence on his practice as a painter, particularly on his palette (with its earth reds, burnt siennas, ochers, and umbers) and his deep feeling for materials. After graduating from Humboldt State University in 1970, Wong traveled to Europe, the Middle East and Asia to work with local ceramic artists. Concurrent with his ceramics, Martin Wong developed a practice around calligraphy starting in the late 1960s, foreshadowing his lifelong interest in poetry, graffiti, and sign-language. Between 1970 and 1973, Martin Wong again lived in San Francisco, where he worked in the environment of the queer performance groups Cockettes and Angels of Lights, of which he was also a member for some time. After 1973, Wong returned to Humboldt County, where he concentrated on his painting over the next few years. In 1978, Martin Wong moved to New York and, beginning in the early 1980s, lived in the Lower East Side. Wong became part of the emerging art and poetry scene there and was also particularly interested in graffiti. In 1994, Martin Wong was diagnosed HIV-positive. Due to the better medical care in San Francisco, he decided to return to his parents, with whom he had a very close relationship. He stayed with them until his death in 1999. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Malicious Mischief, the first major European institutional survey exhibition on Martin Wong, opened at CA2M, Centro dos de Mayo, Madrid (2022-2023) and traveled to KW Institute, Berlin (2023), Camden Art Centre, London (2023) and the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (2023-2024). Prior to that, an American retrospective titled Human Instamatic opened at the Bronx Museum (2015) and traveled to the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (2016) and to the Berkeley Art Museum (2017). Martin Wong’s works has been included in numerous museum and international exhibitions, most recently the 24th Biennale of Sydney (2024), and The Way I See It: Selections from the KAWS Collection at the Drawing Center, New York (2024-2025). His work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Art Institute of Chicago; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Tate Modern, London, among others.

 

The exhibition Above Ground: Art from the Martin Wong Graffiti Collection is currently on view at the Museum of the City of New York, through August 2025. In the autumn of this year, the Asia Society in New York will present a new solo exhibition on the work of Martin Wong. 

Martin Wong

Works on Paper
7 February 2025 -
5 April 2025
opening Friday, 7 February, 6-8 pm

Martin Wong

Resumé Consumé de

Martin Wong, ca. 1975

ink on paper, stamped

45 x 30.5 cm

(framed: 54.5 x 40 x 3 cm)

&

Untitled (Portrait of a Man),

ca. 1968-1970

ink on paper

45.5 x 30.5 cm

(framed: 54.7 x 39.6 x 2.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Resumé Consumé de

Martin Wong, ca. 1975

ink on paper, stamped

45 x 30.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (Portrait of a Man),

ca. 1968-1970

ink on paper

45.5 x 30.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

28 x 21.8 cm

(framed: 37.5 x 31.1 x 2.8 cm)

&

Fern Canyon Easter Bunny, 1970

graphite on paper, in artist’s frame

28 x 22 cm

(framed: 37 x 31 x 3.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

28 x 21.8 cm

Martin Wong

Fern Canyon Easter Bunny, 1970

graphite on paper, in artist’s frame

28 x 22 cm

(framed: 37 x 31 x 3.8 cm)

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (Dog and Shoes),

ca. 1970-1973

ink on paper

43 x 35.5 cm

(framed: 52 x 44.5 x 2.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (Dog and Shoes),

ca. 1970-1973

ink on paper

43 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (ink well), ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 28 cm

(framed: 44.5 x 37 x 2.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (ink well), ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 28 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 27 cm

(framed: 45 x 36.5 x 3 cm)

&

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 27 cm

(framed: 44.7 x 36.2 x 2.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

42.5 x 34.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (Black trunk), ca. 1970

ink on paper

43 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (Thumb), 1970

ink on paper

33.6 x 28 cm

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

42.4 x 34.4 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 27 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (Eat it All), ca. 1970

ink on paper

35.5 x 27.2 cm

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Wendy Palmet, 1970

ink on paper

42.5 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Matra Ford Toy Car, ca. 1970

ink on paper

28 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Ratz Guitar, ca. 1970

ink on paper

43 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Las Vegas - Golden Nugget,

ca. 1970

ink on paper

28 x 35.5 cm

(framed: 37 x 44.5 x 2.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Las Vegas - Golden Nugget,

ca. 1970

ink on paper

28 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Pete’s Supermarket Liquors, 1977

graphite on paper, embossed

framed: 36.2 x 43.8 x 2 cm

&

World Famous Stump

House, ca. 1976

graphite on paper, embossed

35 x 42 cm (framed:

36.2 x 43.8 x 2 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Pete’s Supermarket Liquors, 1977

graphite on paper, embossed

36.2 x 43.8 x 2 cm

Martin Wong

World Famous Stump

House, ca. 1976

graphite on paper, embossed

35 x 42 cm

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (profile of Benjamin

Fie reading), 1976-1977

graphite on paper

35.5 x 43 cm

(framed: 43.2 x 50.8 x 4 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (profile of Benjamin

Fie reading), 1976-1977

graphite on paper

35.5 x 43 cm

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

1835 1 ST Arcata California, 1972

ink on paper

35.5 x 28 cm

Martin Wong

Dinner at Englerts 1834 F St Arcata, 1972

ink on paper

27.9 x 21.4 cm

Martin Wong

Gail Gousha, 1969

ink on paper

21.6 x 28 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (Man with Big Shoes),

ca. 1971

ink on paper

30.5 x 23 cm

(framed: 39.5 x 32 x 2.8 cm)

&

Study for Portrait of Bill McWhorter in Convertible with Boy and Dog,

ca. 1975

graphite on paper

35.5 x 43 cm

(framed: 44.7 x 52.3 x 2.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (Man with Big Shoes),

ca. 1971

ink on paper

30.5 x 23 cm

Martin Wong

Study for Portrait of Bill McWhorter in Convertible with Boy and Dog,

ca. 1975

graphite on paper

35.5 x 43 cm

Martin Wong

Final Landscape in Fur - Erosion Map of Growth and Decay,

ca. 1970-1972

ink on paper

30 x 23 cm

(framed: 35.5 x 28 x 4 cm)

&

Struttin His Stuff

(chicken drawing), 1976

graphite on paper

28 x 35 cm

(framed: 37 x 44.3 x 2.8 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Struttin His Stuff

(chicken drawing), 1976

graphite on paper

28 x 35 cm

Martin Wong

Final Landscape in Fur - Erosion Map of Growth and Decay,

ca. 1970-1972

ink on paper

30 x 23 cm

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

North Beach MW August 16 1975, 1975

graphite on paper

34.5 x 54.5 cm

Martin Wong

Golden Gate Park, 1975

graphite on paper

28 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (To Virginia from

Martin), 1975

graphite on paper

28 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (Turkey), 1975

graphite on paper

37.5 x 35.5 cm

Martin Wong

Works on Paper

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (Study for Malicious

Mischief), ca. 1997

ink on paper

20.5 x 25.5 cm

(framed: 28 x 33 x 4 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (Study for Malicious

Mischief), ca. 1997

ink on paper

20.5 x 25.5 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled (Bicycle - MW), 1980

ink on paper

12 x 20 cm

(framed: 20.2 x 28 x 4 cm)

&

Untitled, n.d.

graphite on paper

35 x 42 cm

(framed: 36.2 x 43.8 x 2 cm)

installation view Galerie Buchholz,

Köln 2025

Martin Wong

Untitled (Bicycle - MW), 1980

ink on paper

12 x 20 cm

Martin Wong

Untitled, n.d.

graphite on paper

35 x 42 cm

Martin Wong

Hard At Work - Brian, 1973

graphite and spray paint on paper

28 x 22 cm