Never-Before-Seen Matthew Wong Paintings Set to Debut in Venice

Even though art world sensation Matthew Wong tragically took his own life six years ago, the young painter evidently still has surprises in store. The Matthew Wong Foundation, based in Edmonton, Canada, is organizing an exhibition of Wong’s lesser-known physical and psychological interiors at the Palazzo Tiepolo Passi in Venice, next May through November, concurrent with the 61st Venice Biennale.

“Matthew Wong: Interiors” will feature 35 previously unseen or rarely seen paintings and works on paper created from 2015 to 2019, during the height of Wong’s painting career. The show is curated by John Cheim, the co-founder of New York gallery Cheim and Read who mentored Wong early in his meteoric rise. Art historian and curator Nancy Spector will write the catalog.

“Deepening the public’s understanding of Matthew’s history and artistic output is one of the overarching goals of this exhibition,” Cheim told me over email. “There is still much to learn and discover about Matthew’s work and this important presentation will provide a more meaningful exploration of his life, his struggles, his influences, and ultimately, his contribution to the art-historical canon.”

Wong’s entrance into that canon was rather unconventional. He was born in Toronto in 1984, but his family moved to Hong Kong when he was seven. They returned to Toronto eight years later, partially to secure better treatment for Wong’s Tourette’s syndrome, autism, and depression. After studying anthropology at the University of Michigan and photography at the City University of Hong Kong School of Creative Media, Wong famously started teaching himself how to paint in libraries and online in 2012.

In 2016, renowned curator Matthew Higgs gave Wong his big break, including him in a group show that Karma opened in Amagansett over Labor Day weekend. The following year, Karma sold one of his canvases to the Dallas Museum of Art during the Dallas Art Fair. In 2018, Wong’s debut New York solo show with Karma elicited rave reviews. The museum shows that have transpired since his death have earned similar acclaim.

“Many of Wong’s interiors have been exhibited in the past but they have never been isolated as a subject,” Cheim noted over email. “Wong has largely been associated with lush imaginary landscapes.” Meanwhile, the works slated to appear in “Matthew Wong: Interiors”, he said, “present a more isolated psychological view suggesting social struggle and sexual longing.”

Indeed, Untitled (2016) depicts hands viscerally grasping towards a portal (seemingly a window, evoking Rothko’s color fields) that is otherwise shrouded in unyielding black. These interiors aren’t totally claustrophobic—many have escape hatches, whether windows out on the world, or doorways leaking promising light. A silhouetted figure stares over another such threshold in a different untitled work from 2016, perhaps watching someone wash up, or trying to remember why they walked over to that room in the first place. These works are ripe for sparking further contemplation of Wong’s inner landscape.

“Matthew Wong: Interiors” is the first exhibition organized by the Matthew Wong Foundation, which just christened its headquarters this Fall. In addition to housing the artist’s archive, fostering scholarship, and hosting an artist residency, the Foundation primarily aims to spark new awareness and appreciation for Wong’s work. Venice proves a fitting first venue. According to Wong’s mother, who chairs the Foundation’s board, Wong served as docent in the Hong Kong Pavilion at the 54th Biennale, in 2011, just before trying to paint for himself.

Source: Exhibition - news.artnet.com