Water to Paper Paint to Sky the Art of Tyrus Wong
by Rebecca Chang
Console brandish at the 2nd-floor gallery entrance depicting Wong at his dwelling in Sunland, CA.
Photo by Rebecca Chang.
"Painting is a verse form and a verse form is a painting." These are the words of Tyrus Wong, who is perhaps all-time known for quietly leaving his creative mark on the 1942 classic film Bambi, a office that would later earn him the honour of a Disney Legend in 2001. From observing Wong's fine art, the pregnant of his words become evident. His sketches of Bambi draw soft watercolors layered upon delicately structured light and form to create an ethereal mood. Drawing comparisons to poetry, his art is sparse in composition yet bursting with emotional richness. Though Wong is small about his fine art, because himself not a great artist, simply rather an artist making a respectable living from his work, the exhibition "Water to Newspaper, Paint to Sky: The Art of Tyrus Wong" at the Walt Disney Family Museum belies his humbleness and provides a stunning showcase of his various range of artistic talents and works.
The exhibition opens with the story of Wong's childhood and his emigration from China to the United States at the young age of ix. The yr was 1919 and against the backdrop of a sociopolitical climate of racial discrimination characterized by the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Wong was detained and interrogated past clearing officials at the Angel Island Clearing Station. Subsequently three weeks, Wong was released and somewhen settled with his father in Pasadena, California. From an early on age, Wong demonstrated exceptional artistic potential and went on to attend the Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles, supporting himself through scholarships and janitorial work. Wong overcame many economic and racial adversities to become the artist he is today, and the conclusion to preface the exhibition with his personal history is both thoughtfully intriguing every bit well equally deliberate: it provides the context for the audition to fully appreciate and understand the cultural significance of his emergence as a Chinese American artist.
"Water to Paper" is in essence a celebration of Wong'southward life that takes the audition through a chronological exploration of his career as an artist, with highlights including his stint as an inbetweener at Walt Disney Studios, the animator responsible for filling in movements in between drawings to portray the illusion of movement, to his twenty-six twelvemonth career at Warner Brothers Studios as a preproduction illustrator, creating concept images for films such equally Insubordinate Without a Crusade (1955) and The Green Berets (1968). Across animation, Wong also created artwork for the consumer, including ceramics, scarves, and holiday cards. His holiday cards were particularly popular, with some designs selling over a million copies.
Visual development sketch for Bambi.
Photo past Rebecca Chang.
Wong's passion for his craft is reflected in his family life as well, particularly in two display cases, featuring one-of-a-kind Christmas toys that Wong handcrafted for his children. Among the toys are a Noah's ark fashioned from a butter container, consummate with brute crackers within. This sliver of a glimpse into Wong'due south role every bit a family unit man shows a more than playful side of his piece of work equally an creative person, balanced by the graceful tranquility characteristic of his Sung Dynasty-inspired paintings.
Wong worked with his married woman Ruth to sell hand-painted silk scarves for department stores and boutiques. Wong created a lookbook showing the various means his scarves could exist styled, while Ruth provided descriptions of the scarves.
Photo by Rebecca Chang.
From 1946 to the early 1950s, Wong busy dinnerware pieces for Winfield Pottery and Gabriel Porcelain. His pieces were sold in department stores, including Bullocks Wilshire, Neiman Marcus, and Marshall Field.
Photo by Rebecca Chang.
"Water to Paper" is expansive – information technology includes over 150 works spanning a multifariousness of artistic mediums. Yet, despite its size, "Water to Paper" never loses a sense of intimacy with its discipline and interspersed throughout the gallery are video interviews with Wong and anecdotes from family members and friends who provide an insider's perspective into the man behind the art.
Today, at age 102, Wong has the distinction of being the oldest living Chinese American artist. He has since turned his focus to kite-making, and the second floor of the gallery exhibition is dedicated to his kites. With its loftier rising ceilings, the one-time gymnasium-turned-museum provides the ideal open infinite for his exquisite creations. Suspended in mid-air, these kites – a whimsical parade of vibrantly hued birds, dragons, and koi – serve every bit a fitting metaphor for Wong'southward gratuitous spirit.
A flock of bird kites, as seen by the stairwell to the 2nd flooring of the exhibition gallery.
Photo by Rebecca Chang.
"Water to Paper, Pigment to Sky: The Fine art of Tyrus Wong" is on display at the Walt Disney Family Museum now through February 3rd, 2014.
Source: https://chsa.org/2013/11/water-to-paper-paint-to-sky-the-art-of-tyrus-wong-at-the-walt-disney-family-museum/
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