Al Wong (born 1939) is an American artist and educator, known for his experimental film and mixed media installation art. He is based in San Francisco, California.
Biography Al Wong was born in 1939 in San Francisco, California to father Willie Wong. He attended San Francisco Academy of Art University from 1960 until 1962 and the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI), from 1962 until 1968 and again in 1970 until 1971. He received a Masters of Fine Arts degree in 1972 from SFAI. He also studied with Shunryu Suzuki Roshi at the San Francisco Zen Center.
He taught classes at San Francisco Art Institute from 1975 until 2003, as well working as a lecturer at California State University, Sacramento from 1975 until 1977; and as an associate professor at Sonoma State University.
Wong started making films around 1965, with his first film screening in 1967 at the Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada. Wong's work was included in the, Other Sources: An American Essay (1976) multidisciplinary, multiethnic exhibition curated by Carlos Villa. 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 in Film (1986), and the Flintridge Foundation grant (1998). In 2023, he also participated in the second Chinatown Contemporary Arts Festival in which he showed his film Paper Sisters. He was inspired to make this film based on his experiences growing up under the Chinese Exclusion Act and named the film to allude to the "reduction of human beings to pieces of paper containing their immigration status."
Filmography YearTitleTypeLengthNotes196969 Cents a Pound16mm film, black-and-white, sound12 minutes1970Tea for Two16mm film, black-and-white, sound5 minutesIn the collection of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.1971Discount House16mm film, color, sound21 minutesIn the collection of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.1974Moving Still16mm film, black-and-white, sound14 minutesIn the collection of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.1975Working Class16mm film, black-and-white, sound14.5 minutesIn the collection of Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.1975Same Difference16mm film, color, sound17.5 minutesThe soundtrack is by Terry Fox. Same Difference was filmed in a kitchen window over the span of a years time.1976Cornerdouble 16mm film projection on wall corner, black-and-white, silent16 minutes197724 F.P.S.16mm film, color, sound14 minutes1977Twin Peaks16mm transferred to video, sound50 minutesThis film was featured in solo viewings at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA) and Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).1979Shadow and Chair 16mm film installation, black-and-white, silent10.5 minutes1980Moon Stand16mm film installation, black-white, sound14 minutes1981Philip Whalen16mm film installation, black-and-white, sound8 minutes
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