August 31, 2023
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Growing Up in a Chinatown Store
This was a small exhibit at the Chinese Culture Center four years ago. Just thought I'd paste the introduction about me.
On Growing Up in a Chinatown Store
Curator: Alice Wu
Date: 4/27 – 10/27/19
Location: CCC Design Store, 750 Kearny St. 3rd Floor. CA 94108On Growing Up in a Chinatown Store is styled as a hybrid of gallery and retail, featuring the art of Leland Wong, selections of vintage inventory from his father’s Chinatown curio shop, and installations by Amy Li Projects, Lions Den, Choose Chinatown, Ooga Booga, and Pearl River Mart. Leland’s artwork and the legacy of Fueng Wah Company reflect a personal history of San Francisco Chinatown, shown in fellowship with innovative art and design-focused enterprises in New York and Los Angeles Chinatowns. This CCC Design Store exhibit invites visitors to discover the backstories of these spaces, and shop from a hand-picked selection of art and design goods.
Leland Wong (b. 1952) is best known for his hand-screenprinted posters, illustrations, and photographs focusing on Asian American life. He was born and raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where his father operated Fueng Wah Company (1942-1970), a Grant Avenue curio shop for tourists. The Wong family lived in a loft in the store. Alongside the souvenir trinkets, novelty items, and eclectic Asian imports, the elder Wong sold his own calligraphy, prints, and paintings at the shop. Leland helped his parents run Fueng Wah until the shop’s 1970 closure. Leland cites his father’s encouragement and the experience of growing up in the store as important in his decision to become an artist.
While the Fueng Wah novelty items surrounding him in his youth had a great influence on Leland’s waggish aesthetic, his experiences as a young man track through the years of the Civil Rights Movement, urban riots, Vietnam War, and college campus protests. Increasingly conscious of the social problems in Chinatown and among Asian Americans, Leland became deeply involved with community organizations such as Chinatown North Beach Youth Council, Kearny Street Workshop, and Japantown Arts and Media. Leland created artwork to promote their events and to express social justice concerns. He has now been active as an artist for over five decades.
