# Al Wong

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{{short description|American artist and educator (born 1939)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Al Wong
| image              = Al Wong-Head Shot.jpg
| image_upright      = 
| birth_date         = {{birth year and age|1939}}
| birth_place        = [San Francisco, California](/source/San_Francisco%2C_California), U.S.
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| alma_mater         = [Academy of Art University](/source/Academy_of_Art_University),<br> [San Francisco Art Institute](/source/San_Francisco_Art_Institute)
| occupation         = artist, fine art professor
| years_active       = 1968-Present
| known_for          = Experimental filmmaking, mixed media installation art
| website            = https://alwongart.com/
}}
'''Al Wong''' (born 1939) is an American artist and educator, known for his [experimental film](/source/experimental_film) and [mixed media](/source/mixed_media) [installation art](/source/installation_art).<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Artist Results, Al Wong|url=http://kiosk.sfartscommission.org/artist-maker/info/684?sort=3|access-date=2020-11-29|website=San Francisco Arts Commission}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eeRPAAAAMAAJ|title=The Visual Artists Awards: Flintridge Foundation, 1997/98|date=1998|publisher=Flintridge Foundation|isbn=978-0-9664721-0-3|pages=43|language=en}}</ref> He is based in [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), [California](/source/California).<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Zimbardo|first=Tanya|date=May 3, 2013|title=Sunlight and Shadows: Al Wong in Conversation|url=https://openspace.sfmoma.org/2013/05/al-wong/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=SFMOMA Open Space, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art|language=en-US}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Al Wong was born in 1939 in San Francisco, California to father Willie Wong.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /> He attended San Francisco [Academy of Art University](/source/Academy_of_Art_University) from 1960 until 1962 and the [San Francisco Art Institute](/source/San_Francisco_Art_Institute) (SFAI), from 1962 until 1968 and again in 1970 until 1971.<ref name=":0" /> He received a [Masters of Fine Arts](/source/Master_of_Fine_Arts) degree in 1972 from SFAI.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Walley|first=Jonathan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTjpDwAAQBAJ|title=Cinema Expanded: Avant-Garde Film in the Age of Intermedia|date=2020|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-093863-5|pages=381|language=en}}</ref> He also studied with [Shunryu Suzuki Roshi](/source/Shunry%C5%AB_Suzuki) at the [San Francisco Zen Center](/source/San_Francisco_Zen_Center).<ref>{{Cite book|last=Chang|first=Gordon H.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFEkAQAAMAAJ|title=Asian American Art: A History, 1850-1970|date=2008|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0-8047-5751-5|pages=424|language=en}}</ref>

He taught classes at San Francisco Art Institute from 1975 until 2003,<ref name=":0" /> as well working as a [lecturer](/source/lecturer) at [California State University, Sacramento](/source/California_State_University%2C_Sacramento) from 1975 until 1977; and as an [associate professor](/source/associate_professor) at [Sonoma State University](/source/Sonoma_State_University).<ref name=":0" />

Wong started making films around 1965, with his first film screening in 1967 at the [Expo 67](/source/Expo_67) in Montreal, Canada.<ref name=":3" /> Wong's work was included in the, ''Other Sources: An American Essay'' (1976) multidisciplinary, multiethnic exhibition curated by [Carlos Villa](/source/Carlos_Villa).<ref name=":22">{{Cite web|last=Johnson|first=Mark|date=September 11, 2013|title=1976 and Its Legacy: Other Sources: An American Essay at San Francisco Art Institute|url=http://www.artpractical.com/feature/other-sources/|access-date=November 28, 2020|website=Art Practical}}</ref> In addition to filmmaking and film installation art, Wong also has created works on paper, light installations and photo installations.

Wong was awarded the [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship) in Film (1986),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Fellows: Al Wong|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/al-wong/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation|language=en-US}}</ref> and the Flintridge Foundation grant (1998).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bonetti|first=David|date=1998-08-17|title=Grants for Bay artists, museums|url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Grants-for-Bay-artists-museums-3075095.php|access-date=2020-11-29|website=SFGATE|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 2023, he also participated in the second Chinatown Contemporary Arts Festival in which he showed his film ''Paper Sisters''.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |date=2023-09-27 |title=Buzzy Chinatown Contemporary Arts Fest Returns for 2nd Year to San Francisco |url=https://sfstandard.com/2023/09/27/san-francisco-chinatown-contemporary-arts-festival-under-the-same-sun/ |access-date=2024-01-24 |website=The San Francisco Standard |language=en}}</ref> He was inspired to make this film based on his experiences growing up under the [Chinese Exclusion Act](/source/Chinese_Exclusion_Act) and named the film to allude to the "reduction of human beings to pieces of paper containing their immigration status."<ref name=":5" />

== Filmography ==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Title
!Type
!Length
!Notes
|-
|1969
|''69 Cents a Pound''
|16mm film, black-and-white, sound
|12 minutes
|<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=August 19, 2022 |title=Canyon Cinema: New Acquisition: Three Exhibition Files from Al Wong |url=https://canyoncinema.com/2022/08/19/new-acquisition-three-exhibition-files-from-al-wong/ |access-date=2024-11-26 |website=[Canyon Cinema](/source/Canyon_Cinema) |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|1970
|''Tea for Two''
|16mm film, black-and-white, sound
|5 minutes
|In the collection of [Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive](/source/Berkeley_Art_Museum_and_Pacific_Film_Archive).<ref name=":4" />
|-
|1971
|''Discount House''
|16mm film, color, sound
|21 minutes
|In the collection of [Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive](/source/Berkeley_Art_Museum_and_Pacific_Film_Archive).<ref name=":6" />
|-
|1974
|''Moving Still''
|16mm film, black-and-white, sound
|14 minutes
|In the collection of [Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive](/source/Berkeley_Art_Museum_and_Pacific_Film_Archive).<ref name=":4" />
|-
|1975
|''Working Class''
|16mm film, black-and-white, sound
|14.5 minutes
|In the collection of [Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive](/source/Berkeley_Art_Museum_and_Pacific_Film_Archive).<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=February 11, 2022 |title=Canyon Cinema : New Artist Member: Al Wong |url=https://canyoncinema.com/2022/02/11/new-artist-member-al-wong/ |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=[Canyon Cinema](/source/Canyon_Cinema) |language=en}}</ref>
|-
|1975
|''Same Difference''
|16mm film, color, sound
|17.5 minutes
|The soundtrack is by [Terry Fox](/source/Terry_Fox_(artist)).<ref name=":2" /> ''Same Difference'' was filmed in a kitchen window over the span of a years time.<ref name=":2" />
|-
|1976
|''Corner''
|double 16mm film projection on wall corner, black-and-white, silent
|16 minutes
|<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
|-
|1977
|''24 F.P.S.''
|16mm film, color, sound
|14 minutes
|<ref>{{Cite web|title=24 f.p.s.|url=https://cinefiles.bampfa.berkeley.edu/catalog/24fps1418668913433|access-date=2020-11-29|website=CineFiles, Berkeley Art Museum and Film Archive (BAMFA), [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley)|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Al Wong|url=https://www.alternativeprojections.com/people/al-wong/|access-date=2020-11-29|website=Alternative Projections}}</ref>
|-
|1977
|''Twin Peaks''
|16mm transferred to video, sound
|50 minutes
|This film was featured in solo viewings at [San Francisco Museum of Modern Art](/source/San_Francisco_Museum_of_Modern_Art) (SFMoMA) and [Museum of Modern Art](/source/Museum_of_Modern_Art) (MOMA).<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite web|date=May 7, 2013|title=Al Wong: Twin Peaks at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in San Francisco|url=https://www.sfstation.com/al-wong-twin-peaks-e1902781|access-date=2020-11-29|website=SF Station|language=en}}</ref>
|-
|1979
|''Shadow and Chair'' 
|16mm film installation, black-and-white, silent
|10.5 minutes
|<ref name=":2" />
|-
|1980
|''Moon Stand''
|16mm film installation, black-white, sound
|14 minutes
|<ref name=":2" />
|-
|1981
|''Philip Whalen''
|16mm film installation, black-and-white, sound
|8 minutes
|<ref name=":4" />
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wong, Al}}
{{authority control}}

== External links ==

* {{Official website|https://alwongart.com/}}

Category:1939 births
Category:San Francisco Art Institute alumni
Category:San Francisco Art Institute faculty
Category:California State University, Sacramento, faculty
Category:Sonoma State University faculty
Category:American experimental filmmakers
Category:American mixed-media artists
Category:20th-century American artists
Category:21st-century American artists
Category:Living people
Category:Artists from San Francisco

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Al Wong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Wong) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Wong?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.