(Oakland, CA, June 5, 2023) - TBW Books is delighted to announce the release of a captivating new book titled Painting Photographs by Alice Wong, an artist from the Creative Growth Art Center. Wong's unique artistic vision revitalizes vintage vernacular photographs, infusing them with vibrant abstraction and transcending the clichés of family album nostalgia and common plant and landscape shots. Through her personal photo albums, Wong constructs visual narratives influenced by memory, longing, and the experiences she may not have had growing up as an immigrant and person with a disability. By utilizing paint markers to enhance and obscure the original imagery's formal qualities, Wong's artistic touch injects a dynamic energy into each underlying image, reshaping the viewer's perspective and fostering a newfound appreciation for seemingly static compositions. Through her fluid mark-making and a remarkable approach to color-blocking, Wong seamlessly blends her craft with the photographic process, resulting in artwork that simultaneously evokes the essence of bygone eras and captivates with a contemporary allure.
Alice Wong Painting Photographs by TBW Books
“Alice Wong invites us on an inner voyage. Using these photos that originate in magazines, and also old photos, she creates a different kind of narrative, a truth that is her own. She alters the story of these characters, and in a way kidnaps them and makes them members of her own family. The way she works with these vintage photos could suggest her fascination with genealogy or perhaps her childhood. From an artistic point of view, the shock of seeing what were originally black-and-white photos transformed into bright, primary and bold colors is striking.”
Born in Hong Kong in 1980, Wong began working in Creative Growth's studio in 2003, after moving to California with her family. Her unique vision and skill have made her a celebrated member of the Creative Growth community, and her work has been exhibited in galleries around the world.
Painting Photographs is a stunning collection of Wong's most powerful and resonant works, accompanied by insightful commentary on her process and technique. This book is a must-have for fans of Wong's art and for anyone interested in the intersection of photography and painting.
Painting Photographs is available now at select retailers nationwide and at www.creativgrowth.org. For more information, visit https://tbwbooks.com/ or creativegrowth.org.
Alice Wong Painting Photographs by TBW Books
MAN UNRAVELING FLIP BOOK
Presented in a flip-book style, Man Unraveling consists of twenty-eight painted-on photographic images by artist Alice Wong, who works at Creative Growth Art Center. Wong's colorful palette adorns a group of photographs of the Italian fashion designer Valentino as he works at his desk. Identified only by the book's title, Valentino's image gradually evolves into greater abstraction with the paintings' general sequence. With colored edges and a textured softcover with flaps, this interactive book is a vivid journey into Alice Wong's imaginative world.
Softcover flip book
60 pages, 30 color plates, 4.5 x 4.5 inches
ISBN 978-1-942953-55-5
Price: $13