MOCA TALKS with Karen Fang – Background Artist: The Life and Work of Tyrus Wong
March 19, 2025, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) invites you to an insightful conversation with Karen Fang, Professor of English at the University of Houston, film scholar, cultural critic, and author of Background Artist: The Life and Work of Tyrus Wong.
You may not recognize the name Tyrus Wong, but you’ve likely seen his work—most notably in the atmospheric scenes of Disney’s Bambi. Background Artist shares the inspiring story of Wong’s remarkable 106-year life and showcases his wide array of creative work, from the paintings and fine art prints he made working for Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration to the unique handmade kites he designed and flew on the Santa Monica beach. It tells how he came to the United States as a ten-year-old boy in 1920, at a time when the Chinese Exclusion Act barred him from legal citizenship. Yet it also shows how Wong found American communities that welcomed him and nurtured his artistic talent. Covering everything from his work as a studio sketch artist for Warner Bros. to the best-selling Christmas cards he designed for Hallmark and other greeting card companies, this book celebrates a multitalented Asian American artist and pioneer.
As part of this event, Tyrus Wong’s Eucalyptus in a Poetic Landscape (oil on canvas, circa 1935, 28.5″ × 20″ framed) and Monkeys (watercolor on paper, circa 1950, 27″ × 20″ framed) will be temporarily displayed. Through this discussion, MOCA honors Wong’s enduring influence on American visual storytelling, his ability to bridge cultures through art, and the creative vision that continues to inspire generations. The program will be moderated by Yifan Wu, MOCA’s Senior Director of Events and Operations.
About Karen Fang
Karen Fang is a film scholar and visual culture critic who writes and speaks for museums and film festivals around the world. Known for previous books about Hong Kong cinema and nineteenth-century British interest in exotic objects, Karen often writes about the intersection of eastern and western aesthetics. Her work has appeared in Smithsonian Magazine, Hyperallergic, Nikkei Asia, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. She is also a prominent contributor to The Engines of Our Ingenuity, a long-running, widely distributed public radio series about science and innovation, where her episodes always focus on the visual arts. A Sunday painter, Karen’s favorite media are watercolor and pen and ink.