Tobias Wong’s Vancouver: A look at the city behind the artist

Vancouver-born, New York-based artist Tobias Wong was a rising star in the art world before his death in 2010.

Named Donald at birth, known to his friends as Tobi, Wong often referred to himself as a “paraconceptualist”- one who breaks down barriers between art and design.

Wong’s work looked at consumer culture and poked fun at society’s need to spend extravagantly on frivolous objects. Wong wrapped dollar store items in priceless works of art, had tooth picks plated in silver, and made notepads out of dollar bills.

Pushing boundaries and challenging perceptions about everyday objects was what he did best, all with his trademark wit and absurdity.

Wong earned instant celebrity in design circles for his high profile stunts. He intercepted a designer chair before its debut and turned it into a lamp. He put together all the items needed for a one-of-a-kind store, complete with limited- edition items by artists and designers, with logos, and stationery, but the doors would never open.

Despite his international appeal, Wong was a homebody who used the city as his studio. He was at his best roaming the streets of Chinatown, digging through bargain bins and always hunting for materials on eBay for his next creation.

The (nearly) complete collection of Wong’s work is on display until the end of February at the Museum of Vancouver as part of ‘Object(ing): The Art/Design of Tobias Wong’.

Tobias Wong’s Vancouver

With high profile stunts and innovative concepts, Vancouver-born designer Tobias Wong became the toast of New York’s art scene. Before his death in 2010 he always loved returning to his hometown. What were the everyday haunts that inspired his work and where did he regularly return? Global News went on a tour with Wong’s partner Tim Dubitsky and friend Pablo Griff.

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1. The Ovaltine Café (251 East Hastings Street)

The Ovaltine Café was Wong’s first stop when he came back to Vancouver from New York City. Set in the gritty Downtown Eastside, the diner first opened in 1942 and is an institution, known for its bottomless coffee, greasy breakfasts and its iconic neon sign. The Ovaltine oozes with character and is often used as the backdrop for movies and television shows. Wong’s partner Tim Dubitsky says the two of them shared a love for unpolished things. Dubitsky remembers, “as much as his work was very polished. He liked things that felt a little unfinished or lived in.” The Ovaltine was pretty much high up on Wong’s list. “It hasn’t changed at all since the last time he came. He could go from breakfast at the Ovaltine and be just as happy in New York’s Soho.”

2. George’s Barbershop (245 East Hastings Street)

Wong would bring his friends to the Mee Lai Barbershop, an unassuming storefront next to the Ovaltine Café, known simply as George’s. The shop has a simple white interior, handwritten signs, and a lone barber chair attended to by George himself. Wong’s good friend Pablo Griff remembers first going with him for a haircut over 20 years ago. George cuts hair three ways: short, medium and long. Adult cuts are eight dollars. Old age pensioners get a dollar discount. George seems like the kind of guy who understands the rich sense of community in the Downtown Eastside.

3. Inform Interiors (50 Water Street)

4. Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia Street)

Growing up, Wong’s mother Phyllis would take him to the now defunct Royal Café in Chinatown. He would sit on the counter at the Hong Kong style café, drink Yuangyang-a drink made of coffee and milk tea-and eat apple tart. Five days a week Wong was in the area attending class at the Man Keung Chinese School. As an adult, Wong liked to visit the Hotel Vancouver to sit in wingback chairs and enjoy afternoon tea. Dubitsky remembers Wong as being “highly adaptable in every situation”. Wong could just as easily order off a menu featuring words like tartlet, torte and choux with white linen, china and silver as he could the local lunch counter.

5. Alan Chung Hung sculpture Spring (Robson Square)

Wong loved to visit the sculpture Spring – commissioned by the BC Building Corporation during the development of Robson Square in the eighties. When Wong was in Vancouver he would tell his friends to come to the sculpture off Robson Street and Hornby. “It was the meeting place. When we were a bit younger and freer with lots of possibilities,” says Griff, “when it’s lit up at night it’s a nice place where two people can sit, and face each other and talk.” Chung Hung was Wong’s mother’s boyfriend and had a major influence on Wong’s work. “Chung Hung had other pieces of public art in Vancouver that were very square… and that was very common in some of Tobi’s pieces as well. The influences are there,” says Griff. Wong even had a square tattooed on his chin during an infamous Art Basel performance in Miami. See more of Chung Hung’s art.

6. Lawrence Weiner sculpture ‘Placed Upon the Horizon (Casting Shadows)’ (750 Hornby Street)

High above the columns of the Vancouver Art Gallery sits the text-based public art ‘Placed Upon the Horizon (Casting Shadows)’. The work, made out of British Columbian yellow cedar, is done by American conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner. “This was one of his favourite public works in the city- Tobi was a huge fan of Lawrence Weiner,” recalls Dubitsky. “There are Lawrence Weiners tucked around New York City. Tobi liked to find them and show them.”

7. Emily Carr College of Art and Design (Granville Island)

Before moving to the University of Toronto to study architecture, Wong spent a year at Emily Carr University of Art and Design on Granville Island. He was eventually selected to attend prestigious Cooper Union School of Art in New York. Across False Creek from Granville Island, a special memorial was held for Wong on the Aquabus pier near Hornby Street. And if you look close, you’ll spy the small and sweet commemorative plaque placed here in Wong’s honour (*). He grew up nearby in pre-gentrified Yaletown.

8. Chocolate Arts (1620 West 3rd Avenue)

Wong’s mother Phyllis loved it when her son put chocolates under her pillow at night. He took the traditional Chinese family role of oldest son very seriously, often helping his single mother by acting like a “big man.” He took chocolate very seriously too. In 2002, with the help of West Side chocolatier Greg Hook, of Chocolate Arts, Wong created a faux wood chocolate tile, which was recreated for the Museum of Vancouver exhibition.

9. Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut Street in Vanier Park, Kitsilano)

To see a comprehensive collection of Wong’s designs and read personal stories from his friends and family, visit the Museum of Vancouver until Sunday, February 24th to catch Object(ing): The Art/Design of Tobias Wong. Join MOV Content Advisor and friend Pablo Griff for an up close and personal tour of what inspired the late Tobias Wong on February 7th at 7pm.

To read more about Tobias Wong:

Theme Magazine

New York Times – Fashion and Style

Photos courtesy of Museum of Vancouver, the estate of Tobias Wong, Dean Kaufman