Gary Wong grew up in Los Angeles at a time when City Hall was the tallest building in the basin. The cultural undulations of his ethnically diverse E. 21st Street neighborhood deeply influenced his artistic, musical, and spiritual life. Early on, Wong was collecting images, painting and crafting things. His work reflected an underdog or outsider perspective. In high school, his poster regarding illegal detainment won an award. He was later jailed for peacefully protesting the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. During the Watts riots, Wong was studying at Chouinard Art Institute with master abstract expressionists Emerson Woelffer and Matsumi Kanemitsu. Each had a profound influence on him. Woelffer taught Wong the spiritual intent and execution of painting. From Kanemitsu he learned a respect for what the tools and methods bring. Wong continues to explore the intrinsic qualities of paint and the internal dialogue of American abstract painting.
ARTIST’S STATEMENT
The reason I paint is as old as Mankind itself: the need to make mark, to leave a message. I have previously worked in the layering of recognizable figures and images with words. I found myself becoming disinterested in people’s interpretation of the images in my work. I was more interested in the grounds, the surface, the texture and its visual richness. I began eliminating the figure or any recognizable subject through my synthesis of stories, myths, ancient history, poems, and songs as written. The purpose of which is to bring focus to the purely visual aspects of the text without the interjection of one’s psyche's interpretation of that which is recognizable. The word conversation comes to mind, the visual energy of story told again and again. The marks, once made, inform the next and the next, and the once silent dialogue develops into a conversation.