MW His Self, Nov 30, 72

An influential and openly gay artist during the AIDS era, Martin Wong worked in both San Francisco and New York City. He employed various mediums and styles and was an avid collector of found objects from popular and street culture, which he incorporated into his formal works. Wong frequently collaborated with his partner, Miguel Piñero, a poet and one of the leading voices of the Nuyorican movement, which promoted Puerto Rican culture in New York City. Shortly after finishing college in 1968, Wong made sketches and portraits to earn income, calling himself the “Human Instamatic,” a sly reference to the popular, easy-to-use cameras of the day. This drawing from that period is remarkable, not only for its fine draftsmanship but also for its ability to telegraph the bohemian, louche era—a time when AIDS cut short the lives of so many individuals, including Wong’s.

Este influyente artista, abiertamente gay durante la era del sida, trabajó en San Francisco y Nueva York. Empleaba diversos medios y estilos y era un ávido colector de objetos encontrados de la cultura popular y urbana, los cuales incorporaba a sus obras. Wong colaboró en muchas ocasiones con su pareja, el poeta Miguel Piñero, una de las principales voces del movimiento “nuyorican” que promovía la cultura puertorriqueña en Nueva York. Poco después de graduarse de la universidad en 1968, Wong empezó a hacer dibujos y retratos para ganarse la vida, autoproclamándose la “Instamatic Humana” (una ingeniosa alusión a las cámaras fáciles de usar que se popularizaron en ese tiempo). Este dibujo proveniente de esa época es magnífico, no solo por su excelente trazo, sino porque logra sintetizar la era bohemia y libre en que el sida tronchó tantas vidas, incluida la de Wong.