Matthew Wong's Venice solo show 'Interiors' traces his meteoric rise and tragic end

Matthew Wong, a self-taught painter who began his career in 2011 after an epiphany at the Venice Biennale, is the subject of a solo exhibition 'Matthew Wong: Interiors' at Palazzo Tiepolo Passi in Venice (May 6–November 1). Wong, who had no formal training, rapidly assimilated influences from Van Gogh, Seurat, Matisse, and Chinese calligraphic ink landscapes, producing distinctive compositions with short loaded brushstrokes and meticulous dots. By 2016 he had gained a New York gallery, and in 2017 the Dallas Museum of Art made his first institutional purchase, 'The West'. His market prices soared, with records of $5.9mn for 'The Night Watcher' and $6.6mn for 'River at Dusk'. Despite early acclaim, Wong struggled with depression and died by suicide in 2019 at age 35. The exhibition focuses on his interior scenes, showcasing works like 'Inside', 'Sliver of Light', 'The Source', 'The Stairway', 'The Waiting Room', and 'Night Moods'. It also includes autobiographical pieces such as 'A Dream' and 'The Painter', which depict his journey with his mother Monita from Hong Kong to New York, Los Angeles, and finally Alberta, Canada. Wong's work is characterized by a sense of loneliness and melancholy, reflecting his own experiences with autism and Tourette's. The show coincides with the Venice Biennale and is set alongside exhibitions by Michael Armitage and Amoako Boafo, both born in 1984 like Wong, who similarly reinterpret modernist traditions.