Martin Wong

Martin Wong was an American artist known for his unique style that blended urban realism with elements of fantasy and mythology. He was born in Portland, Oregon in 1946, and grew up in San Francisco before moving to New York City in the late 1970s. Wong's paintings often depicted scenes of urban life, particularly in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where he lived for many years. His work is characterized by its attention to detail and its use of bright, bold colors, and often featured elements of graffiti, Chinese calligraphy, and other forms of street art. In addition to his paintings, Wong was also a poet and a collector of graffiti art and hip hop memorabilia, which he donated to the Museum of the City of New York. Wong's work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States and Europe, and is held in the collections of several prominent institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Wong passed away in 1999 at the age of 53.