David P. H. Wong Art

David P. H. Wong was born in Canton, China in 1949, where he first began to paint at the age of eight. His teachers soon recognized his talent and within a year, he was sent to Shin Nin Geka, a special school for gifted children. At the age of 15, David was sent to the Canton School of Art, where he became one of the first Chinese artists to paint oils in the traditional western manner. By the time he was 20 years old, David was one of the major forces in the new style of painting. Since the Chinese government controlled all the media, including all artistic endeavors, David could not paint the subjects he chose, nor in the style he wanted. So, in the name of artistic freedom, David was forced to flee his beloved country. In 1969, he walked away from his life in China and went to Hong Kong where he soon became a well established artist with his own studio. In August of 1977, David left Hong Kong to go to the United States to begin a new chapter in his life. In dealing with his artwork, David has said that he attempts to give each one of his paintings a life of its own. He achieves this through the bold use of his palette knife and with his choice of vibrant colors. If there is a message to be found in his art, David says that it is in the life and vitality he attempts to express in his painting.