Thanksgiving was a normal Thursday for me in Peru. I missed cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and Bubs’ quick daikon pickles, but had a good day with the Fangs, explaining the story behind Thanksgiving to Mariela. “Why would the Native Americans have dinner with the pilgrims? Weren’t the pilgrims not very nice to the Native Americans?” Mariela asked. I laughed, acknowledged she had a point, but didn’t have a good response.
I’ve gotten to know the artist Marcelo Wong over the last few weeks. Marcelo has been incredibly generous and taken the time to talk to me about his art, his process, and much more. I’m looking forward to working with him more in the future, potentially on an art project he does with kids who are sick in the hospital, and maybe helping out his cousin who is opening a Chinese bao shop in Lima. Marcelo is of Japanese and Chinese descent (a fun thing we have in common) and born and raised in Peru. It’s been nice talking to him about how his mixed background both affects and doesn’t affect his work.
Marcelo’s work, which you can see a little bit of here, has done well both in galleries, catering to an audience of artists and art connoisseurs, and in more commercial contexts. He has collaborated and worked on campaigns with MasterCard and Absolut Vodka, and partnered with restaurateurs and more. Recently, Marcelo has focused more on the more commercial side of art and has a really good time with it, and seems to have a keen entrepreneurial eye. For him, pursuing art in a more commercial context lets more people enjoy his work and allows him to find a lightness in what he does. He sometimes felt a little bit bogged down by the seriousness of the art world of galleries and museums.
Marcelo has done an amazing job of establishing a brand. Almost all of his work (sculptures and paintings) focuses on his trademark character, a very simple, almost cartoon-like character that looks a bit like the cushy robot in Big Hero 6. Everything has a sense of humor, and cuteness to it, but everything is streamlined and elegant at the same time. One of his most popular scenes is of this main “character” interacting with lots of hearts, sometimes in a culinary context, sometimes in a romantic context, and sometimes in other ways. Marcelo has enjoyed expanding where his character might go, and has drawn a series of animals shaped like this plump main character, but his original character with hearts is one of his biggest sellers. From the business side of things, he always makes sure those are available, since many people seek him out for that in particular.
With his business acumen, Marcelo has now had an event on black Friday the last couple years as a way to kick of Christmas shopping for art interested shoppers. I had a great time at the event. It was hosted at his friend and well established Peruvian artist Fito Espinosa’s studio, gallery, and home in Miraflores. It was a wonderful event and I am so grateful to have been included. There was wine and hors d’ouevres. Art was displayed in his living room, and also hung up in his backyard next to beautiful bougainvillea plants climbs the walls.
I had a great time learning more abut Fito’s work. His pieces also had a cuteness, but different than the cuteness in Marcelo’s work; it was cool to see two artists with cheeky dispositions display their work on adjacent walls. I particularly like how Fito used text in his paintings and prints, captioning his pieces with simple, philosophical sayings. I particularly liked the painting of a girl walking to school, with the text “es necesario salir para poder regresar” (it’s necessary to leave so that you can return”).
Marcelo and Fito are both relatively well known. The event also featured work done by a few other artists, giving a few up and coming artists some great exposure. Beyond people enjoying the art, people were buying. There seemed to be a constant stream of customers at the register. So often, I feel that art and business are presented in opposition to one another. I like how Marcelo and Fito’s careers show how business and art can support one another in a really productive way. I look forward to learning more for Marcelo and am so thankful for how generous and inclusive he has been.