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Object photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a transparency. Image color corrected by Pat…
Down for the Count
Object photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a transparency. Image color corrected by Pat…
Object photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a transparency. Image color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Down for the Count

Artist Martin Wong (American, 1946-1999)
Date1985
MediumAcrylic on canvas
DimensionsOverall: 83 x 107 in. (210.8 x 271.8 cm)
ClassificationsContemporary art
Credit LineGift of the family of Joel B. Cooper, in memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper
Object number2002.26.18
Terms
  • Boxer
  • Boxing
  • Urban
  • Fences
  • Firemen
  • Children
  • Gray
  • Black
  • Yellow
  • Red
  • Brown
  • Tan
Collections
On View
Not on view
DescriptionThis is an acrylic with gloss on canvas painting. The painting depicts a boxing match set against the backdrop of chain link fences and tenements in the Lower East Side of New York. In the foreground, a victorious gloved Nuyorican (a Puerto-Rican born New Yorker) boxer raises his arms in a "V", while an unconscious opponent is lifted slightly from the ground to be carried off by two New York fire fighters. A young child hugs the victor and stares directly at the viewer.

Label TextMartin Wong American, 1946–1999 Down for the Count, 1985 Acrylic on canvas The everyday becomes extraordinary in Martin Wong’s Down for the Count. Borrowing heavily from Renaissance depictions of the death of Christ, the work posits tragedy and defeat against the victor’s raw, masculine strength. The heroic boxer appears to be fighting for much more than a simple match. Wong based his theatrical urban scenes on Manhattan’s Lower East Side—then an impoverished, mostly black and Hispanic neighborhood with a thriving artistic community. Gift of the family of Joel B. Cooper, in memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper 2002.26.18
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