Estate of Martin Wong
The retrospective exhibition Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief shows the work of Chinese-American artist Martin Wong. The exhibition consists of paintings, drawings, sculptures and personal memorabilia. Wong is known for his portrayals of social, sexual and political issues in the United States from the 1970s to the 1990s.
In his artistic practice, which is strongly influenced by his experience with the countercultures of San Francisco and Eureka, California, and New York City, he combines elements from Chinese iconography, portraiture, landscape painting, urban poetry, graffiti, prison aesthetics and sign language . As a storyteller and critical observer of urban life, Wong provides a poetic view of the social reality of marginalized communities. Instead of emphasizing the harshness of their existence, Wong creates space for beauty and inclusivity in his work, in which existing views on class, race and sexual orientation are reconsidered and reshaped.
Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief is thematically structured, with Wong's artistic biography as a guide. Starting in San Francisco, where he grew up as an only child of Chinese-American parents and created his first paintings, poems and sculptures in the 1960s and 1970s, we follow his artistic route via Eureka, California, to New York. Wong's paintings of a decaying New York City in the 1980s and 1990s, which he created while living on the Lower East Side, are among his best-known works.
The exhibition concludes with works inspired by Wong's memories of the various Chinatowns on the east and west coasts, which he created in the period prior to his untimely death from HIV/AIDS.
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis
Installation views, Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 2023. Photo: Peter Tijhuis