‘The visionary paintings of Martin Wong, one of the unsung geniuses of New York’s East Village art scene of the 1980s, are collected here and examined in depth for the first time. Entirely self-taught, Wong creates intricate compositions that combine gritty social documents, cosmic witticisms, and highly charged symbolic languages – customized manual alphabets for the deaf, street graffiti, Nuyorican poetry, hand-lettered signs, meticulously rendered brick facades, a rearrangements of Zodiac signs – sometimes within a single painting… The urban landscape of Loisaida, the Hispanic section of the Lower east Side where Wong lives, is the source of his imagery… Wong’s work is visually startling and movingly autobiographical.’ (Back cover) This is the catalogue of Martin Wong’s solo exhibition at the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York, and the University Galleries, University of Illinois. Essays which study various aspects of Wong’s works, a biography and a selected bibliography are included.

Access level

Onsite

editor
Location code
MON.WOM
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

1998

ISBN / ISSN

0847821021

No of copies

1

Content type

artist monograph, 

catalogue

Chapter headings

Brick by Brick: New York According to Martin Wong - Dan CAMERON

The Writing on the Wall (Every Picture Tells a Story - Don't it?): Tenement and Storefront Paintings - 1984-1986 - Barry BLINDERMAN

La Vida: The Life and Writings of Miguel Pinero in the Art of Martin Wong - Yasmin RAMIREZ

Martin Wong's Picture Perfect Chinatown - Lydia YEE

An Existential Frame - Carlo McCORMICK

Sweet Oblivion: The Urban Landscape of Martin Wong
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Sweet Oblivion: The Urban Landscape of Martin Wong