Biography
Brian Wong Won was born in the Caribbean island of Trinidad in 1970. He grew up in the suburb of Woodbrook, a stone’s throw away from the bacchanal of Carnival and where many mas camps call home. Masqueraders usually assemble in one of Woodbrook’s beautiful squares before storming the capital on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. His entire childhood was colored and flavored by the artistry and masquerade of Trinidad Carnival from the black of the Jab Molassies to the rich red velvets of Gownmen and the pure whites of Fancy Sailors. Growing up surrounded by the intricate gingerbread architecture of suburban Woodbrook only sweetened the mix. It would seem that the two would provide the catalyst to his development as an artist. Over three decades of mas would pass in front of him, from Minshall’s Paradise Lost and Trilogy to Lil Hart’s Anthony & Cleopatra. Brian's Carnival exposure began at an early age with a Midnight Robber confrontation on Phillip Street one Carnival Monday back in 1974. Thus the Carnivals throughout the years would greatly influence and colour his visual aesthetic palette.
His formal education was received at both Maria Regina Grade School and St. Mary's College where he excelled in his creativity. In 1988 he would further broaden his scope when he attended the International Fine Arts College to peruse Commercial Art & Graphic Design. Though initially trained as a commercial artist and graphic designer, he would later turn to fine arts when he began teaching art at the Bass Museum School of Art. This would eventually lead him to perusing the Bachelor of Fine Arts at Florida International University majoring in Painting & Art History in 1990. After graduating in 1995, he held his first solo show in Trinidad, exclusively based on Trinidad Carnival called Pandemonium. It was held at 101 Art Gallery just a few weeks before Trinidad Carnival 1996. His annual shows would become a permanent fixture around the carnival season in Trinidad.
The Pandemonium show would be both experimental and groundbreaking and would later chart the course for his future career. This show was not only a show of carnival images, but also one that dealt in its history and legacy. His Thesis for the BFA was done on Trinidad carnival's history and his graduation pieces were all about traditional Carnival. This first show immediately created a niche for his art in Trinidad, one that he still occupies today as perhaps the only one artist to make carnival his main subject matter. Twenty two solo shows would later follow up to 2008 showing both at home, Florida and London.
Although has lived in Miami, Florida for the last 18 years, his work maintains its Trinidadian flavor with a distinct style and language. The paintings are vibrant and detailed, with colours that run the gamut of the spectrum. Though representational in nature, the work takes on a different perspective with regards to visual and aesthetic elements. Colour plays an integral part of the picture as well as the compositional treatment in the construction of the work. The paintings possess a spirit of their own, when you view them you can visually experience all the sounds and energy of Carnival leering out for your attention. "My paintings try to compress everything—every detail, every emotion, the energy, and the atmospheres-everything into one. They take the viewer back into the carnival atmosphere; making him lost, enraptured and entangled in the intricate sea of form, line and colour,” the artist says. If you played mas the sensory voyage is even more heart felt and complete.
The medium he uses is gouache, a water-based medium similar to watercolour. It has a slightly flat and chalky texture, but proves amenable to his style and nature of painting. It gives him the clear, flat and precise colours that he seeks. The work tends to be quite detailed and precise with skewed perspective dancing off the page. When asked to categorize or describe his work, he often refers to it as “reality in an animated existence”.
His work is part of several corporate collections, such as CLICO, BPTT, AT&T, Scotia Bank, Pfizer Pharmaceutical, the Government of Trinidad & Tobago and the National Museum and Art Gallery of Trinidad & Tobago. The work has also been featured in BWIA Caribbean Beat Magazine, MACO Magazine, Upscale Magazine, Caribbean Travel & Life and the Latin American Bureau publications. His art has also been the center of several documentaries from Omni TV (Canada), Gayelle (Trinidad), TV6 (Trinidad), Synergy TV (Trinidad) & MEP (Media Editorial Projects, Trinidad).
In 2007, Brian embarked into the very thing that inspired his art from the beginning-Trinidad Carnival. He formed his carnival group MAS Jumbies in August 2006 as an extension of his creativity and to further develop his art into Performance Art. MAS Jumbies was born on J'Ouvert 2007 with their first presentation "Diable"; a band of modern and avant-garde inspired Devils. In 2008, MAS Jumbies returned with their 2nd presentation "JAB" and came 3rd in the J'Ouvert band of the Year competitions at South Quay on Carnival Monday.