I’d like to start our conversation by learning how you were first introduced to Matthew Wong and what resonated with you about his work. 

I met Matthew Wong online. I used to participate on Facebook (I now use Instagram as it is more picture driven - like I am). In 2014, Matthew commented on a photograph I took of a friend near the seaside. From there, we began conversing. His conversation was always sophisticated, fresh, and observant about painting, films, and literature. We seemed to have similar tastes, and he commented on the art we showed at Cheim & Read, particularly liking Joan Mitchell and Milton Resnick. I had no idea that he was an artist. He had not suggested that he was until one day he said, "I'm thinking about painting. Can you suggest a kind of paint that I might use?" I replied, "Oh, that's great. You should paint. I recommend Williamsburg paint, a brand that Milton Resnick developed."

Can you provide some insight into that period in his life and how the landscape and lifestyle of the city affected his work?

The current exhibition, Matthew Wong: The New World, Paintings from Los Angeles 2016, comprises paintings made during a 3-month sojourn in Los Angeles. They are Edenic. His arrival in a new landscape is marked by lustful expressionism. One can feel both longing and rapture with nature. Artists such as Munch, Kirchner, and Van Gogh come to mind.

What was Matthew like on a personal level?

I would describe Matthew on a personal physical level as visually striking. Tall, pale skin, a shock of thick black hair, handsome. He carried himself in an elegant, considered manner. As for Matthew's "depression," I certainly saw no sign of it. On the contrary, he displayed an enormous appetite for the beauty of life.

Wong sadly took his life in 2019. Suicide is unfortunately not uncommon for artists (especially by those who seem to be able to plumb great depths of experience and emotion in their work.) — if you are up for it, I’d love to get any thoughts you might have around the thread between creativity, beauty, and depression.

Wong was a gifted self-taught artist who developed his own unique visual language. That said, his work does appear to reference specific artists and art movements/artists as inspirations.

Can you point out a few artistic touchpoints and where you would place Wong from an art-historical perspective?

I tend to bridle at the notion of "self-taught artist." What artist is not self-taught? Matthew was keenly aware of art history both ancient and very contemporary. He absorbed everything and managed to create something entirely new and unique. Like Van Gogh and Basquiat, he produced an extraordinary amount of intense work in a relatively brief time.