21 Facts About Martin Wong

Martin Wong was a Chinese-American painter of the late 20th century.

Martin Wong's work has been described as a meticulous blend of social realism and visionary art styles.

Martin Wong moved to San Francisco, eventually securing work as a draftsperson at the Richmond Shipyards where she met Anthony, a Chinese-born draftsperson working in the facility.

Martin Wong was raised by his mother for the first several years of his life, living in San Francisco's Chinatown.

In 1955, when Martin Wong was nine years old, Florence married Benjamin Martin Wong Fie, the co-owner of the apartment the family was renting.

Martin Wong's mother was a strong supporter of his artistic inclinations and kept much of his early work.

Martin Wong took art classes through the De Young Museum's youth art program while attending George Washington High School.

Martin Wong first exhibited his art in 1961, showing a landscape painting at a gallery in North Beach.

Martin Wong's mother encouraged Wong to collect art and artifacts and he quickly amassed a large collection of primarily Asian art.

Martin Wong continued his education at Humboldt State University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Ceramics in 1968.

In 1978 Martin Wong moved to Manhattan, settling in the Lower East Side, where his attention turned exclusively to painting.

Largely self-taught, Martin Wong's paintings ranged from gritty renderings of the decaying Lower East Side to playful depictions of New York's and San Francisco's Chinatowns, to Traffic Signs for the Hearing Impaired.

Martin Wong is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Nuyorican poet Miguel Pinero.

Martin Wong met Pinero in 1982 on the opening night of the group exhibition Crime Show, held at ABC No Rio.

Martin Wong credited Pinero with enabling him to feel more integrated into the Latino community.

Martin Wong's painting, Attorney Street, centered on the graffiti work but included a poem by Pinero, spelled out using hands in American Sign Language in the foreground of the image and written in English in the background against the sky.

Martin Wong painted additional phrases on the frame of the painting using hands and sign language, painted to appear carved into the wood.

Martin Wong amassed a sizable graffiti collection while living in New York and with the help of a Japanese investor, he co-founded with his friend Peter Broda the Museum of American Graffiti on Bond Street in the East Village in 1989.

Martin Wong died under the care of his parents in their San Francisco home at the age of 53 from an AIDS related illness on August 12,1999.

Martin Wong's aunt, Eleanor "Nora" Martin Wong, was an active participant in the San Francisco Chinese nightclub scene in the 1940s.

The Martin Wong Papers, ranging from 1982 to 1999, comprise sketchbooks, correspondence, biographical documents, videocassette recordings, photographs, graffiti-related materials, and parts of Wong's personal library.