Hale Navy

Hale Navy

2000
Artist
Su-en Wong, American, Chinese, 1973-
Born: Singapore
Work Locations: Brooklyn, NY
Country
United States
Object
painting
Medium
Acrylic and graphite on linen
Accession Number
2001.877A-C
Credit Line
Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum

Su-en Wong
Hale Navy, 2000
Acrylic and graphite on linen
80 x 163in.
Gift from Vicki and Kent Logan to the Collection of the Denver Art Museum. © Su-en Wong

Dimensions
height: 80 in, 203.2000 cm; width: 162 in, 411.4800 cm
Department
Modern and Contemporary Art
Collection
Modern and Contemporary Art

Su-en Wong paints stark portraits of isolated, young Asian women set against a flat, featureless backdrop. Her work simultaneously captures crucial moments of personal transition and transformation. In the painting Hale Navy, Wong inhabits the space of the objectified female and imbues the stereotype with a new sense of subjective agency.  In this way, sexuality becomes a powerful tool for deconstructing male fantasies.  Wong reflects upon her own feelings of vulnerability and isolation as a young Asian woman in America. The former title was Dark Painting with Girl in White Panties but was renamed by artist per Ron Otsuka.

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