How many people would’ve recognized the genius of Basquiat at first glance? Even Warhol, his eventual patron and mentor, didn’t immediately anoint the soft spoken graffiti artist from the streets as the next great luminary in the pantheon of modern painters. So naturally, we can ask ourselves at any given time, if there are similar individuals in our midst about to erupt in a meteoric rise. Well, I can’t say what form Chad Wong’s career is going to take but from my first acquaintance with his photographs I knew he was an artist of superb talent. One of the most demanding challenges a creative person can attempt is to engage others through minimalist imagery. The risk of being derivative here is imposing. Wong however gives us work that is luminous and fresh, rewarding not only for its purely visual merits but also as portals to inner reflection. There’s a lot beneath the surface.
You’ll have to see his photographs for yourself, of course, in order to judge this claim but let me attempt to entice you to do so. Beginning with a survey of the general aesthetic. The works that comprise this show lean in the direction of bright pastel colors and outdoor spaces but that’s balanced by a smaller selection of shots which explores the overlap of shade to various degrees. Here the biggest highlight of Wong’s exhibition, and this is saying something, is a work titled (sofa 2) which consists of a close up of a mundane household object. What he managed to capture though in the pattern of tessellated triangles and subtle metallic color variations is a really wonderful confirmation that spectacular sensual experiences are present all around us. Wong humbly describes this as only an “exercise in light and shadow,” but in discussion he elaborated on the background of nostalgia and intimacy that contributes to his works’ special evocativeness. Because what we’re being given here is private revelation. Private because it is veiled behind the ambiguity of things untainted by explanation, and revealing because the artist invites us into a panorama of his own personal history. The show provides a kind of window into the heart of someone who has cultivated their own sensitivity to a remarkable degree and a world as it arose to them from youth through maturity.
For those who had the benefit of an upbringing within the atmosphere of local Chinese culture, there’s much on offer for them to connect with on a personal level. They will recognize these places as places they themselves inhabited but perhaps with a deeper perspective. And for those of us, like myself, not sharing in this background, there’s just as much of the common substance of humanity to engage with. Beyond the stimulating reiteration and contrast, beyond the elemental shapes multiplied across visual spaces and opposing textures and colors juxtaposed to dramatic effect, there’s an emotional quality suffusing Wong’s work that is rare and exquisite. His photographs are photographs of revitalization and, given the pandemic world we are currently imprisoned in, his show couldn’t have come at a better time.
It’s only going to be on for a few days however. I trust that the broader artistic establishment will soon take notice of him and that he’ll have many many more solo exhibitions in the future but that could conceivably take him very far from our access. See his work while you can. The space it’s being shown in, the Slice of Life shop and gallery is an excellent place to acquaint yourself with a new artist. A charming den of sorts with a relaxed vibe in an idyllic section of the Venables and Commercial area, it’s one of Vancouver’s preeminent hubs of emerging talent. The only things you need to bring are a mask and a positive attitude. Entrance is by donation and Wong’s photographs and zine can be purchased inside.
– Thomas Barnes