Matthew Wong 1984-2019

Matthew Wong (b. 1984, Toronto, Canada; d. 2019, Edmonton, Canada) was a self-taught Canadian painter whose works invoke art historical precedents that range from ink wash literati painting, to the sweeping brushstrokes of Chaim Soutine and Vincent Van Gogh, to the intuitive mark-making of abstract expressionism. Working alternately in oils and watercolors, Wong's compositions are known for their manipulation of planar space and striking contrasts between wet and dry brushwork. His colorful, dappled vignettes of imaginary landscapes and half-remembered interiors, in his words, "activate nostalgia, both personal and collective." Wong held his first American solo exhibition at Karma in March 2018, garnering reviews in The New York Times and The New Yorker, among others. He received a degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and an MFA in photography from the City University of Hong Kong's School of Creative Media. His work is in the public collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Dallas Museum of Art, Texas; Esteé Lauder Collection, New York; Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario; and the Aïshti Foundation, Beirut. Notable solo exhibitions include ARCH Athens, Greece (2020); Karma, New York (2019); Massimo de Carlo, Hong Kong (2019); Karma, New York (2018); and the Hong Kong .Visual Arts Centre (2015).

Related Categories: Contemporary Chinese Art, China, Contemporary Asian Art, Contemporary Fauvist, Asian Art, Watercolor, Landscapes, Oil Painting, Vacant and Vacated Spaces, Contemporary Figurative Painting, Work on Paper, Symbolic Composition