Dedicated to the exhibition Martin Wong. Mischievous Mischief, this book is an important contribution to the exhibition. An extensive publication, it has been co-published with Verdag der Buchhandlung Franz und Walther König, and offers new perspectives on Wong’s practice conveyed via a series of voices: Marci Kwon, Sofie Krogh Christensen, David J. Getsy, Mark Dean Johnson, Krist Gruijthuijsen and Agustín Pérez Rubio.
Martin Wong is known for his depictions of social, sexual and political scenes of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s in the United States.
Poetically weaving together narratives of queer existence, marginalised communities and urban gentrification, Wong stands out as an important counter-cultural voice at odds with the reactionary discourse of the art establishment of the day.
Heavily influenced by his immediate environment, Wong’s work fuses the visual languages of Chinese iconography, urban poetry, graffiti, prison aesthetics and sign language.
His work offers valuable insight into pivotal periods in recent US history.
Published to mark the exhibition Martin Wong: Malicious Mischief, organised by the KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. Curated by Krist Gruijthuijsen and Agustín Pérez-Rubio, and produced in collaboration with the Camden Art Centre, the Stedelijk Museum and the Museo Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo.
The exhibition will travel to the following venues:
8 Nov 2022 - 29 Jan 2023, Museo CA2M Centro de Arte Dos de Mayo, Madrid.
25 Feb - 14 May 2023, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin.
16 Jun - 17 Sep 2023, Camden Art Centre, London.
Nov 2023 - Feb 2024, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam.
Co-published with KW Berlin.