Exquisite, radiant and profoundly hypnotic, Matthew Wong’s mesmerizing The Beginning epitomizes the melancholic beauty and ethereal compositions that distinguish the artist’s extraordinary and all-too-brief career. Under Wong’s masterful hand, earth, sky, ocean and flora collapse and intermingle in a singular vertiginous perspective imbued with its own depth and spatial logic; while at the top left corner, a lone pilgrim in a canoe prepares to embark upon the glittering expanse of sea. Combining the traditions of ink wash Chinese landscape painting with the dreamlike qualities of Peter Doig's landscapes, the tactility of Vincent Van Gogh’s vibrant compositions, and the brightly hued, profoundly evocative symbolism of Les Nabi, The Beginning embodies the deeply personal and intuitive combination of art historical tendencies palpable in Wong unique artistic vernacular. Art critic Roberta Smith describes viewing Wong’s paintings as “a visceral experience, like falling for an unforgettable song on first listen. It was deeply nourishing: my life had been improved, and I know other people who have had the same reaction. Such relatively unalloyed pleasure is almost as essential as food” (Roberta Smith, “A Final Rhapsody in Blue from Matthew Wong”, The New York t.mes s, 2019). Executed in 2017, the present vista is a superlative masterwork demonstrating a particularly erudite compositional intricacy that unravels to reveal the genius in Wong’s imagination, immersing viewers in his extraordinarily poignant paradise.

Born in Toronto in 1984, Wong lived alternately in Canada, Hong Kong and the United States, completing a degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Michigan in 2007 and an MFA in photography at the City University of Hong Kong in 2013. Around the same t.mes , Wong began teaching himself to draw and paint, absorbings styles from masters Van Gogh, Matisse, Vuillard, Klimt and Bonnard, as well as from Chinese landscape painting and forms in the natural world. Wong’s resulting artistic language synthesized endless artistic references in his own distinctive manner, articulating an enchantingly vulnerable, immersive and acutely alluring language rich in chromatic, spatial and psychological complexities. Wong’s unique vocabulary is characterized by intricate tactile surfaces, spirited abstracted strokes, ebulliently radiant palettes, and dramatic foreshortening that recall modernist spatial abstractions. Earnest, urgent, yet always sublimely graceful, the works are tinged with a melancholy that extends from the personal to the universal. Wong stated in 2018: “I would like my paintings to have something in them people across the spectrum can find things they identify with. I do believe that there is an inherent loneliness or melancholy to much of contemporary life, and on a broader level I feel my work speaks to this quality in addition to being a reflection of my thoughts, fascinations and impulses” (Maria Vogel, “Matthew Wong Reflects on the Melancholy of Life”, Art of Choice, November 2018).

After a lifelong battle with autism, Wong tragically took his own life at the age of 35. Writing about Wong’s brief career, Roberta Smith described him as “one of the most talented painters of his generation” (Roberta Smith, “A Final Rhapsody in Blue from Matthew Wong”, The New York t.mes s, 2019). Before his unt.mes ly death, Wong was heralded by critics and collects ors alike as a leading voice of our t.mes s – a remarkable feat for a self-taught artist. Wong once said: “At first I just bought a cheap sketch pad along with a bottle of ink, and made a mess every day in my bathroom randomly pouring ink onto pages – smashing them together – hoping something interesting was going to come out of it” (the artist cited in Neil Genzlinger, “Matthew Wong, Painter on Cusp of Fame, Dies at 35”, The New York t.mes s, 21 October 2019). Wong’s mother recalled that “he would go to libraries and study all the masters – Picasso, van Gogh, Matisse” (Ibid). Dearly remembered for his earnest passion for art and both the joys and vicissitudes of life, Wong’s hypnagogic vision endures in his exquisite paintings, prompting all who encounter them a deeper, kinder, more sensitive way of seeing and feeling.

王俊傑的《開始》精緻而耀眼奪目，令人猶如被催眠般深陷其中。那憂鬱的美感、超乎現實的構圖，令這位可惜英年早逝的藝術家在世人心中留下難忘印象。在他靈巧的畫筆之下，大地、天空、花和動物聚集一起、又互相交織。藝術家運用奇特又華麗的視角，展現出奧妙的深度和空間層次。王俊傑熟練地把握顏料和質感，以綺麗的色調、複雜的構圖，呈現這個如伊甸園般的醉人景象。他糅合了彼得．多伊格風景畫的夢幻氣氛、古斯塔夫．克林姆將大自然描繪得如寶石般燦爛明媚的手法，以及梵谷《麥田》裡如漩渦般攪動的動感。王氏獨一無二的藝術手法及詞彙，明顯來自他個人獨特的藝術視角。藝評家羅貝塔．史密斯如此形容欣賞王氏作品時的體驗：「那是一種很深入的體驗，就像是對一首難忘的歌一見鍾情的感覺。我深深地感到被滋潤，我的生命變得更美好。我也認識其他有同樣反應的人。這種相對純粹的喜悅，幾乎如食物一樣，是生命的必須品」（羅貝塔．史密斯，<王俊傑最後的藍色狂想曲>，《紐約時報》，2019年）。2017年作品《萬物之始》是一幅大師級作品，結構異常複雜而豐富，揭示了藝術家那異想天開的天才世界，讓觀者不禁沉浸於他那遺世獨立的淒美仙境中。

王俊傑在1984年生於多倫多，多年來穿梭於加拿大、香港及美國之間。他在2007年畢業於密西根大學文化人類學系；2013年在香港城市大學獲得攝影藝術碩士學位。當時他開始自學繪畫，向梵高、馬蒂斯、維亞爾、克林姆及博納爾等大師學習，並師法中國山水畫和大自然的萬千形象。王氏的自學成果集合了對大量藝術風格的參考，但他自成一家，其藝術語言纖細脆弱，卻又異常迷人吸引。他的作品色彩豐富華麗，在空間感和心理暗示方面亦甚為複雜。精緻的質感、充滿活力的抽象筆觸、熱情而鮮艷的色彩都是王氏的藝術特色，還有大幅縮短/裁剪的前景，令人回想起現代主義藝術家對空間的抽象處理。他的作品流露出真實而逼切的情感，卻又不失優雅脫俗；畫中漫溢的絲絲愁緒，彷彿從個人世界裡不斷延伸到外在的宇宙空間。藝術家在2018年曾表示：「我希望我的作品能令各種各樣的人都能從中找到共鳴。我相信現代人的生活裡大多少不免寂寞和憂鬱。廣義地說，我覺得我的作品在回應這種感受，而不只是反映我個人的想法、迷戀和衝動。」（瑪利亞．沃格爾，<王俊傑思考生命的愁緒>，《 Art of Choice》，2018年11月）

王俊傑一生都與自閉症、憂鬱症及妥瑞症搏鬥，在35歲時不幸地選擇結束自己的生命。羅貝塔．史密斯評論他的藝術生涯時，形容王是「他的世代中其中一位最有才華的畫家」（羅貝塔．史密斯，<王俊傑最後的藍色狂想曲>，《紐約時報》，2019年）。他在世時獲許多藝評家和收藏家賞識，被譽為當今世代的藝術先鋒；以一位自學成才的藝術家而言，絕對稱得上成就超卓。王曾經表示：「起初，我只是買了一本便宜的素描本和一瓶墨水，然後每天隨意地將墨水倒在素描本上，在浴室弄得一團糟。我讓兩者碰撞，希望能得出有趣的效果」（王俊傑，引述自尼爾．根茨林格，<鋒芒正露的畫家王俊傑，終年35歲>，《紐約時報》，2019年10月21日）。王的母親回憶起：「他會去圖書館研究所有大師——畢加索、梵高、馬蒂斯」（同上） 。他對藝術深刻的熱情、生命中的喜樂與波折，都令人懷念；他那令人沉醉的意象世界，將在他的作品中永續流傳，讓每個曾經欣賞過他的作品的人，都會以更深刻、更善良和敏感的目光看待和感受世界。