Jordan Wong

(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1990 - )

American

Jordan Wong (also known through the brand name WONGFACE) grew up in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as the grandson of Chinese immigrants. His grandparents ran a laundry business—hard, thankless work with dirty clothing and noxious cleaning chemicals. “For a lot of ethnic minorities, these professions result from when you have no one else willing to do that kind of work,” Wong notes. From this foundation, Wong’s father became a salesman for a water treatment business, and by the time Jordan was born the family was open to his pursuit of a career in art. His interest in drawing was nurtured by his grandfather: “He would take computer paper and cut it up into smaller squares and just have, like, a big stack of it in the kitchen for me to draw on,” Wong remembers, “It's funny thinking back now on these moments of when you're encouraged and you're, you know, kind of free to do what you enjoy.” He would draw the same thing over and over until he felt that he had it right, and he often drew subjects from the anime TV shows, manga comics, video games, and toys (and their vibrant packaging) that he enjoyed. “It was more of a way for me to express my excitement for a lot of the stories that I was consuming. And maybe connect to those stories or connect to the excitement as a kid—that wonder, that imagination—and express it by trying to create it on my end.

”Growing up in a largely white environment, Wong recalls being shunned by some of his classmates because he looked different or ate different food, while also receiving criticism from his Chinese elders for a lack of Mandarin or Cantonese language skills. As a result, he says, “I always thought, like, ‘oh, man, I don't belong anywhere.’” These experiences continue to shape the artist’s thinking, both consciously and subconsciously, but at the same time he explains that “I probably would not take on the title Chinese American artist or, you know, artist of color, because I feel that a lot of my work is just me.”

Wong went on to complete a Bachelor of Science degree at California University of Pennsylvania, studying graphic design and business administration. While getting his career underway, he worked as a gallery attendant at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, a fitting experience for an artist who repurposes and recontextualizes pop cultural imagery. He moved to Cleveland for work in 2015, soon moved into a freelance graphic design practice, and by 2022 had shifted his focus primarily to fine art. Wong continues to draw from the stories and media, as well as Asian cultural motifs, that have shaped his interests and sense of self. With bold, saturated color and maximalist density, he forms the parts and visual styles of these sources around a range of themes: “Probably whimsy, wonder. Definitely themes of encouragement,inspiration. Moments of triumph. Scenes of overcoming impossible odds. And heroes facing those things, which are great metaphors for facing insecurities, facing trauma, loss—just the things that we struggle with. I think we face them every day. And that's why we gravitate towards those stories. Everyone loves the tale of a hero.”1

Jordan Wong has produced large-scale installations and public artwork for the city of Cleveland and also exhibited at the Massillon Museum (2023), Akron Art Museum (2021), SPACES (2020), and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh (2020). From 2020 to 2022, he served as the president of the Cleveland chapter of AIGA, the professional association for design. His work has been featured by Graphic Design USA (”People to Watch 2021”), The Great Discontent (issue no. 5), Cleveland Magazine (”Most Interesting People 2021”), Ideastream, Destination Cleveland, Downtown Cleveland Alliance, Channel 3 WKYC, News 5 Cleveland, PressureLife, The Land, FreshWater Cleveland, and CAN Journal. Wong has work in the collections of Meta (parent company of Facebook), Cleveland Public Library, University Hospitals, Fred and Laura Bidwell, Diane Davis-Sikora and Ted Sikora, and Roy Minoff.

 

This biography has been adapted from David C. Barnett, “Equity in Art: Jordan Wong, Cleveland Graphic Artist,” Ideastream, September 2020, https://indepth.ideastream.org/jordan-wong-cleveland-graphic-artist/index.html and text provided by Jordan Wong.

Cleveland, Ohio

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