City as Canvas: Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection

City as Canvas: Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection is the first exhibition of 1970s and 1980s graffiti art amassed by artist and pioneering collector Martin Wong.

Graffiti emerged as a powerful form of self-expression in New York City in the 1970s. With Wong and his friends at its epicentre, the movement evolved from illicit expressions on subway cars and station walls, to colourful paintings embraced as valuable works of art by collectors and patrons from the Downtown scene of the 1980s.

At a time when others saw graffiti as an urban blight, Wong recognised the artistic and cultural value of his friends’ work, which he began to collect through purchase or trade. The resulting collection features 55 sketchbooks and over 300 mixed media paintings on canvas, cardboard, paper and plywood that were later erased or painted over.

The exhibition, explores the cultural phenomenon of New York graffiti art, beginning with historical photography of graffiti long erased from subways and buildings. The exhibition also delves into paintings and sketchbooks collected by Wong. With nearly 150 works from Wong’s collection on display – many of which were restored for this exhibition – City as Canvas highlights the vibrant colours varying techniques and personal styles that vividly reflect the culture and social pressures of the era.

Wong donated his entire collection to the Museum of the City of New York in 1994, before returning to San Francisco where he remained an active artist and friend of graffiti artists until his death from AIDS in 1999.

City as Canvas: Graffiti Art from the Martin Wong Collection is on view until Sunday 24 August 2014 at the Museum of the City of New York, US.

www.mcny.org

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Howard the Duck by Lee Quiñones, 1988, oil on canvas, 58x88.” Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
Untitled by Sane Smith, 1989, ink on paper, 8x11.” Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
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