Martin Wong (1946–1999, US) is recognized for his depictions of social, sexual, and political scenographies in the United States from 1970s to 1990s. Poetically weaving together narra­tives of queer existence, marginal communities, and urban gentrification, Wong stands out as an important counter­cultural voice at odds with the art establishment’s reac­tionary discourse at the time. Heavily influenced by the artist’s immediate surroundings, Wong’s practice merges the visual languages of Chinese iconography, portraiture, land­scape, urban poetry, graffiti, carceral aesthetics, and sign language. His work offers a valuable insight into decisive periods of recent United States history as told through its changing urban landscapes, unfolding hidden desires, and complexities. In the role of an urban chronicler and a crit­ical observer, Wong poetically portrays social realism, tran­scending harsh realities while opening up spaces of beauty and inclusion. Within these spaces, the existing social rela­tions of class, race, and sexual orientation can be recon­sidered and reshaped.