This is your last weekend to check out Blue, the final exhibition by artist Matthew Wong who took his life in Edmonton, Canada on October 2—about a month before the show’s opening.
Matthew Wong, Starry Night, 2019, oil on canvas
Born March 8, 1984 in Toronto, Wong shuttled between Canada and Hong Kong with his parents throughout his childhood, according to the New York Times. The artist was on the autism spectrum, had Tourette’s syndrome, and suffered from depression.
He received his bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and later earned his MFA in photography from City University of Hong Kong before switching to drawing and painting in 2012, according to Artforum. The New York Times’ Roberta Smith calls Wong “one of the most talented painters of his generation,” adding that he “made some of the most irresistible paintings I’ve ever encountered.” Smith took notice of Wong’s work in 2017 at Frieze New York. His first solo show at Karma in 2018 was highly acclaimed, establishing Wong as a rising star in the art world.
Wong completed the works for Blue, his second solo show at KARMA, “over the last year of his life,” according to the show’s press release. “Every detail of Blue was conceived of by Wong and proceeds according to his wishes.”
Matthew Wong, Untitled, 2019, gouache on paper
Matthew Wong, Untitled, 2019, gouache on paper
Matthew Wong, Untitled, 2019, gouache on paper
Matthew Wong, Untitled, 2019, gouache on paper
Matthew Wong, Untitled, 2019, gouache and watercolor on paper
Matthew Wong, Untitled, 2019, gouache and watercolor on paper
Blue takes place at two venues. A selection of Wong’s gouaches are on view at KARMA’s 172 East 2nd Street space while his large-scale oil paintings are showcased a few doors east at 188 East 2nd Street. The “semi-fictional subject matter” was inspired by a trip Wong took with his mother to Sicily in the fall of 2018 and winter of 2019, according to the gallery. The works examine the “blueness of blue,” according to the release, “its fluidity, its affect, and its uncanny ability to ‘activate nostalgia, both personal and collective.’”
Matthew Wong, Unknown Pleasures, 2019, oil on canvas
Matthew Wong, Look, the moon, 2019, oil on canvas
Matthew Wong, Autumn Nocturne, 2018, oil on canvas
Matthew Wong, Blue View, 2019, oil on canvas
Matthew Wong, Blue Night, 2018, oil on canvas
Matthew Wong, A Dream, 2019, oil on canvas
The dark, moody scenes of interiors and vast landscapes are given dazzling hints of light from a starry sky, reflections on a lake, raindrops on a window pane, moonlight filtered through trees, glowing seen behind a door or in the window of a distant cabin. The works exude a sense of melancholy, quiet, and solitude. The unpopulated scenes of urban dwellings as well as the great outdoors leave viewers with a feeling of isolation.
Get to the East Village this weekend and check out the final work of an emerging artist who left this lonely world too soon.
KARMA
172 & 188 East 2nd Street (between Avenues A & B), NYC
Exhibition on view through January 5, 2020