Artist Born for this time, Lived on a landfill as a child. Reuse Became the way of life. To read the story from the inception of the Name Hong Kong Willie. Famed, by the humble statements form the Key West Citizen, viable art from reuse has found its time. To Live a life in the art world and be so blessed to make a social impact. Artists are to give back, talent is to tell a story,
Showing posts with label hong kong willie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hong kong willie. Show all posts
Wealthy collectors in Dubai are acquiring the "reuse art" of Florida-based artist Joe Brown—known as Hong Kong Willie—because his eco-friendly sculptures and reclaimed wood paintings align with the UAE's push toward sustainability and match the unique architectural aesthetic of Dubai's luxury properties.
MYSTERIOSITY HONG KONG WILLIE ART, Famous FLORIDA Artist $976,000 MYSTERIOSITY HONG KONG WILLIE ART, Famous FLORIDA Artist $976,000
The motivations driving this trend include:
Sustainability and "Refurbrushing": Hong Kong Willie's work transforms salvaged marine debris, lobster traps, and discarded materials into vibrant, one-of-a-kind pieces. This philosophy resonates with affluent eco-conscious collectors looking for art with an environmental narrative
Elevating Eco-Luxury Design
Ultra-luxury real estate developers and homeowners in Dubai use such pieces to add character and visual interest to their modern spaces. The "washed up" Florida aesthetic brings a unique contrast to the metallic, glass-heavy architecture of the region.
Philanthropy and Social Value: Much of the proceeds from his high-value art sales are dedicated to charitable causes, adding a layer of socially responsible investment to the acquisitions
Diversification of Alternative Assets: Tangible, unique art forms are increasingly viewed by high-net-worth individuals as a hedge against economic volatility
LANDFILLS LIVE FOREVERLandfills are forever, like massive coffee percolators. This is the reason we should explore other uses of our refuse.
Famous artist raised on Tampa city dump,like living in the Penthouse in the upper east side. A brand meant for this time.
Hong Kong Willie Art ,Blue Marlin Dream of Key West. $525,000 THE IRONY OF IT ALL
My Father was a generous man . Hillsborough County was in need for a dump. They showed him studies that DUMPS(they called SANITARY LANDFILL) WERE SAFE. HE DONATED THE LAND FOR THAT USE. NEVER RECEIVED ONE CENT OF COMPENSATION,AND DID THIS AS A PUBLIC SERVICE.
SANITARY LANDFILLS,CONTUNE AS THIS IS WRITEN ,AND MANY DANGERS CONTUNE WITH
SANITARY LANDFILLS,
How Dangerous is it Really to Live Near aLandfill? (And How Near is Too Near?
The Dump i lived on still today exist ,but buried with all of its secrets.
This is a excerpt from a study OF THE LANDFILL (CITY DUMP) HONGKONGWILLIE LIVED ON.. Follow this link Gunn Highway Landfill The Gunn Highway Landfill is located off Gunn Highway in Tampa,
Hillsborough County, Florida. The county operated the landfill as a
trench-type facility for the disposal of MSW from 1958 to 1962. The
landfill disposal areas occupied approximately fifteen acres. After the
landfill was closed, the property was subdivided and developed. A total
of thirteen apartment buildings and a clubhouse were constructed over
the waste-filled areas of the landfill. According to an investigation
report by a consulting firm, see Geraghty & Miller
(1996), the foundations for these structures were built as follows: The complex is founded on timber piles and post-tensioned concrete
structural slab systems due to the subsurface conditions. The
construction drawings approved by Hillsborough County for the apartment
complex indicate that a synthetic membrane was to be installed beneath
the slabs to block and disperse the migration of methane gas, generated
by the decomposition of solid waste. Even though efforts were made during construction to prevent methane gas
generated by the waste from seeping into the structures, problems were
discovered in the late 1980's. In addition, differential settlement of
the waste has resulted in cracks in the overlying structures in spite
of the attempt to establish an adequate pile foundation system for
those structures. Numerous investigations have been conducted at the property evaluating
whether methane gas has migrated into the on-site structures and
evaluating the potential for the gas to migrate off-site through utility
trenches containing electrical conduits, sanitary sewers and
stormwater pipes. Some gas monitoring data report methane gas
concentrations in the soils at levels significantly higher than 100
percent of the lower explosive limit (LEL) for methane. Methane gas has
consistently been detected under the slabs at the clubhouse and at
many of the apartment buildings. Fortunately, methane gas has not been
detected in the first floor apartments. Additional ventilation has been
added to on-site structures and concrete floors have been resealed to
try and minimize the risks from methane gas accumulation. While
investigators now believe that the levels of methane gas are decreasing
at the site, indicating that the Gunn Highway Landfill may have passed
its peak methane generation rate, gas monitoring is still continuing
and is likely to be required for many more years.
Reuse Became the way of life. To read the story from the inception of the Name Hong Kong Willie. Famed, by the humble statements from the Key West Citizen, viable art from reuse has found its time. To Live a life in the art world and be so blessed to make a social impact. Artists are to give back, talent is to tell a story, to make change. Reuse is a life experience This is a excerpt from a study OF THE LANDFILL (CITY DUMP) HONGKONGWILLIE LIVED ON.. Follow this link Gunn Highway Landfill The Gunn Highway Landfill is located off Gunn Highway in Tampa, Hillsborough County, Florida. The county operated the landfill as a trench-type facility for the disposal of MSW from 1958 to 1962. The landfill disposal areas occupied approximately fifteen acres. After the landfill was closed, the property was subdivided and developed. A total of thirteen apartment buildings and a clubhouse were constructed over the waste-filled areas of the landfill. According to an investigation report by a consulting firm, see Geraghty & Miller (1996), the foundations for these structures were built as follows: The complex is founded on timber piles and post-tensioned concrete structural slab systems due to the subsurface conditions. The construction drawings approved by Hillsborough County for the apartment complex indicate that a synthetic membrane was to be installed beneath the slabs to block and disperse the migration of methane gas, generated by the decomposition of solid waste. Even though efforts were made during construction to prevent methane gas generated by the waste from seeping into the structures, problems were discovered in the late 1980's. In addition, differential settlement of the waste has resulted in cracks in the overlying structures in spite of the attempt to establish an adequate pile foundation system for those structures. Numerous investigations have been conducted at the property evaluating whether methane gas has migrated into the on-site structures and evaluating the potential for the gas to migrate off-site through utility trenches containing electrical conduits, sanitary sewers and stormwater pipes. Some gas monitoring data report methane gas concentrations in the soils at levels significantly higher than 100 percent of the lower explosive limit (LEL) for methane. Methane gas has consistently been detected under the slabs at the clubhouse and at many of the apartment buildings. Fortunately, methane gas has not been detected in the first floor apartments. Additional ventilation has been added to on-site structures and concrete floors have been resealed to try and minimize the risks from methane gas accumulation. While investigators now believe that the levels of methane gas are decreasing at the site, indicating that the Gunn Highway Landfill may have passed its peak methane generation rate, gas monitoring is still continuing and is likely to be required for many more years. It,(was the dump) that had all this media, and a young enterprising mind. Not enough time to capture it all.
Tampa Art Gallery University of South Florida, Florida Focus,Fletcher and 75
The sinkhole is in an older part of the 3,300-acre tract at 1596 County
Road 672, which opened in 1984. The area where the cavern opened up
contains a mix of municipal solid waste and ash from the county's
resource recovery facility.
"Black Bird of Key Largo" The allurement of the winds blowing in the palm trees and the moon shining through and the "Black Bird of Key Largo" looking upon. Hong Kong Willie **HONG KONG WILLIE artist Kim Brown, chose aged Florida sawmill stock
as canvas. Recovered Brass Hanger: Key West lobster trap rigging.
Originally connects and suspends rigging of spiny lobster traps in Key
West waters. Candy-like appearance due to multiple protective layers.
Assigned number in artist register by Fisherman ID tag, corresponding
burn-etched # rear of piece. Key recovered by Robert Jordan, acclaimed
treasure hunter: also in identification of piece and artist. Dimensions: 24" L 8" W 4" H Weight: 17+ LB
The Story Behind the Eye-Catching Art at I-75 Exit 266 Tampa Florida
Folk artist Joe Brown, better known as "Hong Kong Willie," makes art with a message at his home/studio near
I-75 Exit 266 Tampa Florida
Sometimes, it’s the smallest experiences that have the biggest impact on a person’s life. While attending an art class in 1958 at the age of 8, Tampa folk artist Joe Brown recalled being mesmerized by the lesson. It involved
transforming a Gerber baby bottle into a piece of art. “The Gerber bottle had no intrinsic value at all,” he said. “But when
(the instructor) got through with me that day, she made me see how
something so (valueless) can be valuable.” By the time class was over, Brown learned many other lessons, too,
such as the importance of volunteerism, recycling, reuse and giving back
to the community. He recalled being impressed by the teacher's
volunteer work in Hiroshima, Japan, helping atomic bomb survivors. "One of the last words she ever spoke to me about that was, ‘When I
left, I left out of Hong Kong,’ ” he said. After turning that over in
his young brain for awhile, he decided to use it in a nickname, adding
the name “Willie” a year later. You've probably seen Hong Kong Willie's eye-catching
home/gallery/studio at Fletcher Avenue and Interstate 75. But what is
the story of the man behind all those buoys and discarded objects turned
into art? Brown practiced his creative skills through his younger years. But as
an adult, he managed to amass a small fortune working in the materials
management industry. By the the '80s, he left the business world and
decided to concentrate on his art. He spent some years in the Florida
Keys honing his craft and building his reputation as a folk artist. He
also bought some land in Tampa near Morris Bridge Road and Fletcher
Avenue where he and his family still call home. Brown purchased the land just after the entrances and exits to I-75
were built. He said he was once offered more than $1 million for the
land by a restaurant. He turned it down, he said, preferring instead to
make part of the property into a studio and gallery for the creations he
and his family put together. And all of it is made of what most people would consider “trash.”
Pieces of driftwood, burlap bags, doll heads, rope — anything that comes
Brown’s way becomes part of his vocabulary of expression, and, in turn,
becomes something else, which makes a tour of his property somewhat of a
visual adventure. What at first seems like a random menagerie of glass,
driftwood and pottery suddenly comes together in one's brain to form
something completely different. One moment nothing, the next a powerful
statement about 9/11. One Man's Trash ... Trash? There is no such thing, Brown seems to say through his art. He keeps a blog about his art at hongkongwillie.blogspot.com. . In his shop, he has fashioned many smaller items out of driftwood,
burlap bags and other materials into signs, purses, totes, bird feeder
hangars and yard sculptures. He sells a lot to the regular influx of University of South Florida
parents and students every year who are are at first intrigued by the
“buoy tree” and the odd-looking building they see as they take Exit 266
off I-75. Brown Sells More Than Art Of course, the real locals know Brown’s place for the quality of his worms. If there’s one thing that Brown knows does well in the ground, it’s
the Florida redworm, something he enthusiastically promotes, selling the
indigenous species to customers for use in their compost piles. Some of
his customers say his worms are just as good at the end of a fishing
hook, though. “To be honest, what made me come here is that they had scriptures on
the top of his bait cans,” said customer John Brin. “Plus, they have
good service. They’re nice and they’re kind, and they treat you like
family.” Though Brin knows Brown sells them mostly for composting, he said
they are great for catching blue gill, sand perch and other local
favorites. He also added that he likes getting his worms from Brown
“because his bait stays alive longer than any other baits I’ve used.” For prices and amounts, he has another blog dedicated just to worms. Of course, many people also stop by to buy the smaller pieces of art
that he and his family create: purses made of burlap, welcome signs made
of driftwood, planters and other items lining the walls of his store. He’s also helped put his mark on the decor of local establishments too, such as Gaspar’s Patio, 8448 N. 56th st. Owner Jimmy Ciaccio said that when it came time to redecorate the
restaurant several years ago, there was only one person to call for the
assignment, and that was his good friend Brown. "I’ve known Joe all my life, and we always had a good chemistry
together,” Ciaccio said. "He’s very creative and fun to be around, and
that’s how it all came about.” Ciaccio says he still gets compliments all the time for the
restaurant’s atmosphere he created using the “trash” supplied by Brown.
He describes the style as a day at the beach, like a visit to Old Key
West. “They’re so inspired, they want to decorate their own homes this
way,” he said. It’s that kind of testimony that makes Brown feel good, knowing that
others, too, are inspired to create instead of throw away when they see
his work. He simply lets his work speak for itself. “Somebody once told me to keep telling the story and they will keep coming," he said, "and they always do." Hong Kong Willie. The name of the artist. In 1958 his mother took Hong Kong Willie to an art class. The name started then. An art teacher when doing crafts out of Gerber baby bottles, made a statement, in Hong Kong reuse was common. At that time he thought this was very interesting. His father had low-land, at that time landfills were common also. The county had told Hong Kong Willie’s father, it was safe, but as we now know this was not so. Something can come from bad to be good. Hong Kong Willie the name came from that art teacher impressing on that young mind that objects made for one use could be for many other uses. Hong Kong for the neat concept. Willie for an American name. . Now 50 years later, we know now being green is important. We need to look at this very carefully. Our children and our world need a different understanding. Objects can be used in many different ways. Hong Kong Willie the tons of objects in his life that have been used, without much change, So for that art teacher what she did for my life. Thank You. I still have the Gerber baby bottle till this day. Hong Kong Willie
By Kerry Schofield The
year was 1958. Joe Brown, 8, lived next to a county dump site in Tampa,
Fla. Brown found old junk, fixed it up and sold it. Brown knew he had a
higher calling in life — he was destined to be an artist.
Brown, who is now 60, makes art from trash at hisHong Kong Willie Art Gallery. He has embellished the outside of the gallery with splashes of Caribbean-color paint and found objects reminiscent of Key West.
Brown
is as colorful as the gallery — he wears a bright tropical shirt with
red, white and blue plaid shorts. Patrons tell him they can smell the
salt water when they drive up. The gallery, however, is perched inland
near Morris Bridge Road and Interstate 75 where a rusty-hair hen named
Fred, first thought to be a rooster, patrols the property. Fred,
abandoned five years ago by tourists, trots between the gallery and
adjacent hotel leaving a trail of droppings behind her.
Brown
lived on the Gunn Highway Landfill from 1958 to 1963. The Hillsborough
County landfill operated for four years and was closed in 1962. “It was
astounding how quick they could fill the 15 acres in pits that were
enormous,” Brown said.
An
apartment complex now sits on top of the old landfill. A report by the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection indicated that a lining
was placed underneath the complex when it was built to block methane gas from leaking. The gas is a byproduct of rotting garbage.
As a child, Brown
lived on his father’s dairy and beef farm. Brown said during heavy
rain, the low land on the farm flooded the neighboring Gunn Highway. In
1957, Hillsborough County officials offered to elevate the low land to
stop the flooding by turning it into a landfill. When the property was
sold in 1984 by Brown’s father, soil testing revealed heaps of old paper
and punctured cans of spray paint.
“They
dug up and took out newspapers like the day they were put in,” Brown
said. “It reminded me of nuclear bombs that were going to go off. They
dumped everything in the landfill.”
As
a child, Brown foraged at nearby dumpsters. County workers saved junk
for him that people dropped off. One day, Brown’s parents got a call
from his elementary school teacher and told them that Brown had $100 in
his pocket and that he must be stealing.
Brown
picked up the saved junk after school and turned it into something new.
Contrary to his elementary school teacher’s accusation, he wasn’t a
thief after all. Instead he was a young entrepreneur who sold other
people’s trash.
“There was so much excess coming into the landfill,” Brown said. “There was so much waste from our society.”
However,
Brown’s mother wanted him to pursue his talents and dreams, not money.
But he developed a business sense during his young junk collecting days
and told his mother, “I’m not going to be an artist. I’ve read that
artists starve to death.”
Brown’s
mother became concerned. He said his mother knew “the value of
happiness and the travels of life” and sent him to a summer art class.
The
art teacher inspired awe in Brown. She taught him how to reuse baby
food jars by melting the glass and adding marbles to the mix to create
paper weights. The teacher had traveled to Hong Kong, China and
Hiroshima, Japan after World War II. She saw how people were forced to
recycle and reuse items out of necessity after the war. This left an
impression on Brown.
It
was at this time that he personified the name Hong Kong Willie, which
harkens back to China where the mass production of merchandise occurs.
The “Willies” are people like Brown and other environmentalists who try
to reuse trash instead of throwing it into landfills.
After
high school, Brown went to college to study business but dropped out
after three years. He worked in the material handling industry until
1981. Although Brown had achieved a successful career and lifestyle, he
had become discouraged in 1979.
“The change came from knowing that I had come to the point of what people call success,” Brown said. “I wasn’t happy inside.”
He
had been diagnosed with depression in 1973, a condition that was caused
from high fructose intake and that lasted for more than four years.
In
1985, Brown and his artist wife, Kim, bought the half-acre property off
Fletcher Avenue and Morris Bridge Road. For two decades the two small
wooden shacks, built around 1965, that now house the gallery operated as
a bait and tackle shop.
Nowadays,
Brown raises and sells worms by the pound mainly for composting. He
recycled 250 thousand pounds in the worm bed in 2009. Brown still sells
the worms for $4.50 a cup for fishing.
In
1981, Brown resurrected the Hong Kong Willie name from his childhood
art class. In the early 1980s, both he and his wife, Kim, began
upcycling trash into art. Brown entered another world when he left his
mainstream lifestyle behind — he joined the art scene and booked rock
bands at the same time.
The
Brown family spent half their time in Tampa and the other half in a
small home on Boot Key Harbor in Marathon. Brown gained the reputation
of the Key West lobster buoy artist.
“I had a total different appearance when in Key West,” Brown said. “I used to have hair down to my waist.”
When Brown came back to Tampa, he lived in the woods for months at a time, much like Henry David Thoreau in “Walden,” who had lived a simple lifestyle in a one room cabin near Walden Pond in Concord, Mass.
Back
in Key West, Brown became friends with local fishermen. He and others
organized efforts to clean up plastic foam buoys that had collected in
the waterways from years of fishing.
“You would go and find buoys floating in the mangroves, up on the shore and they had trashed up everything,” Brown said.
The
Earth Resource Foundation reports that plastic foam is dumped into the
environment. It breaks up into pieces and chokes animals by clogging
their digestive system.
Brown
sells the buoys from the Hong Kong Willie Art Gallery for $8.00 a
piece. He said he has sold from 30 to 40 thousand buoys in the last ten
years. Some of the buoys are more than 50 years old and are collected by
tourists from China and Japan.
“If
you go to the Keys right now and you see a buoy floating, you’ll see
someone slam on the brakes to get it,” Brown said. “They’re the most
prized buoys of the world.”
Brown
made a holiday buoy tree 12 years ago from the Key West buoys. Hundreds
of buoys are strung on rope and wrapped around a utility pole next to
the gallery. Brown hopes the novelty of the buoy tree will inspire and
stimulate children to find new ways to reduce, reuse and recycle
garbage.
In
Kate Shoup’s “Rubbish! Reuse Your Refuse,” the author said much of what
we get is designed to be scrapped after only a few uses. We easily
throw away pens, lighters, razors and dozens of other items. Shoup said
Americans consume 2 million plastic drink bottles every 5 minutes.
Likewise,
Brown finds uses for items that would otherwise end up in a landfill.
He buys used burlap bags from coffee and peanut producers. He sells them
to the U.S. National Forestry Service for the collection of pine seeds
and Samuel Adams for hops production.
Brown and his wife, Kim, also make art hippie bags from the burlap sacks and sell them in the gallery. Kim,
also an artist, paints fish, turtles, crows, parrots and the like on
driftwood and on wood that Brown has salvaged from saw mills and from
old buildings in Key West.
Brown
said art is viewed and appreciated by certain people. “If it all came
out the same, it would be like bland grits all the time,” Brown said. He
likes to refer to the gallery art as reused rather than recycled, which
takes waste and turns it into an inferior product. Reuse on the other
hand involves remaking an item and using it again for the same intended
purpose.
“I
also try to stay away from imprinting a definite use for a definite
item,” Brown said. He explains that 2-liter bottles are not limited to
making bird feeders. The bottles can be used for art and craft projects
as well.
Brown said the larger message he wants to communicate is that the disposal of garbage today is creating a toxic environment.
“I still have the original Gerber baby food bottle that I melted” Brown said. “It’s sitting on my mom’s little table.”
Hong Kong Willie photomontage
I'm
working on a feature story about Hong Kong Willie aka Joe Brown and
family who are reuse artists. I recently spent some time interviewing Joe Brown at his studio in Tampa, Fla. We had a pleasant talk about his
working gallery. We sat outside and there was a nice breeze, although it
was a warm sunny day still here in Florida. Join me in the midst of
writing the story. I took a few pictures to share with you. Enjoy.
Famous Tampa art gallery.
Reuse artists from the 1960s.
Morris Bridge Road and Interstate 75, Tampa, Fla.
The garden shrubbery consists of recycled glass bottles and aloe vera plants.
Hundreds of lobster buoys from Key West, Fla., strung on rope,
wrapped and tied to a utility pole.
orange helicopter that once served in
Vietnam and later used by a radio station.
Key West lobster buoys hang from the small 1950s wood frame building.
Tourists buy the buoys for souvenirs. Some of the buoys are 50 years old.
The exterior of the roadside building is an artful blend of
The executive producer will be Adrienne Kennedy with Mia Laurenzo as
line producer and Filipe Marrou in charge of filming. "This time we are
focused on South and Central Florida," Charlie explained. "In the first
one, we will include an underwater cemetery, yes, they want me and Miss
Scarlet to scuba dive into Biscayne Bay. Also planned is a visit to an abandoned missile facility in the Everglades, a woman knife thrower and
fire eater, crazy trash cans in Lake Placid, Hong Kong Willie in Tampa, Ashley's haunted Restaurant, mysterious ruins in New Smyrna Beach, a
miniture circus, and much more craziness. We hope to film it, if all
goes right." In addition to the show, the team is proposing doing an
active blog while on the road, called, "Where Is Miss Scarlet?" Each day
the blog will be updated and fans can exchange comments with Miss
Scarlet and the road crew..
Photo By Gary Lester
The tremendous success of Weird Florida: Roads Less Traveled, which
has aired on PBS stations from Florida to Juneau, Alaska, has attracted
an overwhelming response from viewers asking for more strange places.
To fulfill the desires of weird fans everywhere, the bizarre journey to Florida’s zaniest places will continue in an all new, Weird Florida: On the Road Again.
The upcoming episode will feature sites you’ll surely want to visit,
like a haunted restaurant in Rockledge where dishes fly off the shelf, a
scary hill in Lake County that thrills drivers, New Smyrna’s mysterious
ruins, and Key Biscayne’s underwater cemetery.
Once again, your guide for this crazy journey is the utterly kooky 10th generation Floridian, Charlie Carlson, “Florida’s Master ofthe Weird”, and joining him is his curious canine, Lady Isabel.
Charlie Carlson has appeared on several television shows, including
Blockbuster’s rental video “Sticks and Stones”, Sy Fy Channel’s “Curse
of the Blair Witch” and in previous episodes of Weird U.S. on the
History Channel. In addition to appearances on television and radio, he
is author of the best seller, Weird Florida, [Sterling Publishers] plus a
dozen other Florida books and over 200 magazine and newspaper features
related to Florida’s past and downright weird folklore.
Weird Florida: On the Road Again introduces its newest star, Lady
Isabel, a full bred boxer, who has an inquisitive nature. Isabel was
just 10 to 12 months old when found wandering the highway in Levy
County, Florida. She became number 086 at the Starting Over Animal
Rescue in Ocala, until Charlie adopted her as the newest member of the
Carlson family. She has a lot of street smarts for having been on her
own.
As a very curious canine, Isabel is a people’s dog that loves to
chase after lizards and sniff bugs. We know our viewers are curious
folks which is why we welcome Lady Isabel as the newest member of our
Weird Florida television family.
Just when our bodies are aching, our patience is low and the weather is hot and steamy, we have our best day yet. If you’ve never been to Sarasota’s Circus Museum on the Ringling Estate, I have to say GO! It was AWESOME!! Its an interactive museum and houses the biggest littlest circus built by Howard Tibbals. This model is a replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1919 – 1938 and is complete with moving figurines. It’s 3800 square feet and it took Howard over 50 years to build. So now that we were clearly on visual overload, we headed north to Tampa off I-75 to visit a place called Hong Konk Willie. Every inch of this place has art, from the walls, the ceiling, in the garden and even by the road. It is so weird looking it beckons you to take a closer look and when you do, you learn a valuable lesson… to appreciate everything around you
During my 4 years of attending USF I've gotten to venture around a
decent amount of local spots in the surrounding Tampa Bay area. These
ranged from restaurants, cafes, parks, bars, and other places of
interest. Recently I got to check out this particular spot that has
always been on mind. If you're frequently in the Temple Terrace area
then there's a pretty big chance you probably been down East Fletcher
Avenue before. If that's the case, then you definitely have seen this
spot I'm talking about. Go east onto Fletcher Avenue and as soon as
you're about to hit Highway I-75, look to your right and you'll see an
establishment with some very interesting art installments around its
vicinity. Just by looking at the photo above, you can see why its hard
to miss. Once again, I had my good friend, Nick, tag along with me to
check out what this place was all about.
Hong Kong Willie
When we pulled up onto the
property, there were no other cars there besides mine. It made me wonder
if there was even anyone around .
The first thing you'll immediately notice is that the majority of the
property was covered in ocean like paraphernalia such as vibrantly
colored buoys to coconuts. It makes you feel like you're walking around a
dock for boats.
We proceeded to walk towards what appeared to be the main building since
it had "open" signs posted around it. The signs led us to a door on the
right side that had a wooden sign with the words, "WE ARE OPEN CALL
813-770-4794". I called the number and before anyone could answer, a man
comes out of nowhere right behind us and asks, "You want to view the
gallery?". He then unlocked the door for us and behind it was a room
completely filled with artwork made by him. These ranged from paintings,
wood carvings, more buoys, and so much more. It was pretty
overwhelming. As we kept looking around, the man introduced himself as
Joe Brown, aka "Hong Kong Willie"
From Hong Kong to Willie
Born and raised
in Tampa, Joe's passion for art started when he attended an art class at
the age of 8. Through it he learned the importance of volunteerism,
reusing, recycling, and giving back to the community. With deep
admiration for his teacher's past work in Hiroshima, the "Hong Kong"
part of his name came from the fact that his teacher was from
there. Later on "Willie" was added to form the catchphrase "Hong Kong
Willie". As time progressed, the young artist unfortunately decided to
leave his interests in art behind with the thought that it wasn't going
to be able to support him in the future. . Now this the part
of the story where things for Joe start to get REALLY interesting. Right
after graduating college, Joe became involved with a project that
helped bring UPC codes to the grocery stores. (UPC codes are those bar codes you
see on products). Sounds crazy right? Who would of known that some
random artist in Tampa played a big role in something like
that? However, he wasn't content with what he was doing with his life;
this led him to move back to Tampa where he spent 5 years living in a
beat down trailer in a forest across the street from where we were
standing. He recalled the trailer days when he would always piss off the
locals by blasting loud music at night and dealing with 20 something
cops showing up; surprisingly, he never got kicked out. Soon it was
finally time for the man to make his comeback as an artist.
So how successful has the artist been since? Well, the highest value
he's ever sold one of his pieces for was $200,000... Holy crap... If
you're able to sell one of your pieces for that much then you're
definitely doing something right. Many of his clients have ranged from
businesses wanting to place something in their stores to individuals who
just want unique artwork in their home. But putting aside the art talk, the artist gave us personal wisdom about his outlook on life.
Hongkongwillie Art MYSTERIOSITY $176,000 U.S. Dollars
Willie Wisdom
Joe
believes that one of the biggest issues we currently face is people
being too absorbed by the lifestyle of riches, straying them from being
themselves. It's no surprise that when you live in a society that
glamorizes wealth that you become tempted to throw aside your genuine
interests to find ways to get rich instead. I've personally had friends
who've stopped pursuing their passions because it seemed to them a waste
of time since it didn't hold any potential to make them money. A
majority of these passions were related to art, music, and dance. It's
sad to think about but as a
photographer myself I understand where they're coming from. Luckily
there are still people out there like Joe who still follow their
passions with zero care about wealth. I've always believed that if you
truly loved doing something then you'll find a way to pursue it
regardless where life takes you. If you find that too hard to do, then
you never loved it in the first place. Joe also weighed in on the issues
of race that have been recently prevalent in media by describing his
personal experiences with it. He acknowledges that as an individual who
physically appears to be white, that it gives him a bigger social
advantage as compared to "minority" races. As a man of Spanish, White,
and Jewish descent, he's had a mild taste of these social tensions when
he once lived in a community of English people.
If
you're ever in the area then I highly recommend that you visit Hong
Kong Willie. This definitely beats a visit to a regular art museum for
sure. Below I've provided more info on how you can learn more about
him. You just never know what story a place might hold for you till you
go check it out.
“My father understood why he was here. And he made that
of great importance to his children… My father gave me the understanding
of why we were here And to be determined to find that.”
In today’s fast-paced society, teaching of such life
lessons has become rare. People are more motivated to “get famous and
get money.
“I’m here just to exemplify and maximize why I’m here. That’s probably the greatest thing that I think is missed in families.
Tampa things to do,Things to do Tampa,Tampa's small tourist attraction that has a great impact on Tampa and its reuse life .
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Artist Born for this time, Lived on a landfill as a child. Reuse Became the way of life. To read the story from the inception of the Name Hong Kong Willie. Famed, by the humble statements form the Key West Citizen, viable art from reuse has found its time. To Live a life in the art world and be so blessed to make a social impact. Artists are to give back, talent is to tell a story, to make change. Reuse is a life experience. To think now of the past and the story of Hong Kong Willie, Why i have to say it was for a reason. Hong Kong Willie Art Gallery In Tampa, a reuse Art Gallery. Artist Kim,Derek,and Joseph. reuse artist that have lived the life and are meant for the green movement in the world. A gallery that was born for this time. Artist living a freegan life,art that makes a social statement of reuse. Media that has a profound effect in making the word green truly a movement of reuse in the world today and the future.
FAMOUS
Tampa Art Gallery
WEIRD, WILD, VIRAL.
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Famous Reuse Artist
Recycling as a Lifestyle and a Business
By:
Chris Futrell, Florida Focus
TAMPA, Fla. – Have you ever seen the building on the corner of Fletcher and I-75 with a bunch of buoys strung everywhere? This small business that many think is an old bait n’ tackle shop is actually Hong Kong Willie.
Derek Brown, 26, and his family own and operate Hong Kong Willie. The little shop specializes in preservation art. The artists don’t take preservation too lightly either.
“99 percent of everything that has gone into a piece of art has been recycled and reused,” Brown said.
Just as unique as the art is, so is the company’s name. Brown says the name was created by his father, Joe Brown, in the 1950s.
“My father being in an art class, being affected by a teacher, they were melting Gerber baby food bottles," Brown said. "The teacher interjected that Hong Kong had a great reuse and recycling program even then.”
Brown's father then took that concept and later added the Americanized name Willie to the end. And that's how Hong Kong Willie was born as a location that offers recycling in a different and creative way.
Hong Kong Willie artists are what are known as freegans. Freegans are less concerned with materialistic things and more concerned about reducing consumption to lessen the footprint humans leave on this planet.
“I’m sure everyone has their own perception of a freegan, possibly jumping into a dumpster or picking up something on the side of the road,” Brown said. “There [are] people who will have excess. There [are] also things that can be trash to one man, but art or a prize to another man.”
Brown and his family carry this practice through to their art. It’s his family’s way of life, turning trash, which would otherwise fill up landfills, into an art form.
The Brown family gets a lot of their inspiration for their art from the Florida Keys. In fact, this is where the deluge of buoys wrapping around the ‘Buoys Tree’ came from, the fishermen of Key West.
“It is Styrofoam, we understand that it does not degrade, but to blame the fishermen for their livelihood wouldn’t be correct, instead we find a usage for those,” Brown said.
Brown said there’s a usage for everything, even the hooks to hold the painted driftwood, which are also salvaged, to the wall are old bent forks. Everything’s reused here. Purses made out of old coffee bean sacks to “kitschy,” as Brown described it, jewelry made from old baseballs.
“Hong Kong Willie truly believes that a piece, whether it’s a bag or a painted artwork, it’s meant for one person.”
Tampa Art Gallery
USF INTERVIEW
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Black Bird of Key Largo
Tampa Art Galleries Hong Kong Willie Art Gallery $98,000.00 USD
“Black Bird of Key Largo”
To Buy Now click this link www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23489576
The allurement of the winds blowing in the palm trees and the moon shining through and the “Black Bird of Key Largo” looking upon.
Hong Kong Willie
**HONG KONG WILLIE artist Kim Brown, chose aged Florida sawmill stock as canvas. Recovered Brass Hanger: Key West lobster trap rigging. Originally connects and suspends rigging of spiny lobster traps in Key West waters. Candy-like appearance due to multiple protective layers. Assigned number in artist register by Fisherman ID tag, corresponding burn-etched # rear of piece. Key recovered by Robert Jordan, acclaimed treasure hunter: also in identification of piece and artist.
*Prior to shipping, final coating will be applied to each piece.
Dimensions:
24″ L
8″ W
4″ H
Weight: 17+ LB
Green Art For Sale
Dorado The Dolphin – Original Hong Kong Wilie Art – Key West
Hand Made Bag,by Hong Kong Willie
Shell: Burlap Coffee Bag
Source: Third Generation Coffee Roaster
Stitching: Recovered Yarn
Source: Key West
Handle, Label, Pockets:
Source: Artist Worn Clothing (HKW)
Inner Chambers: 3
Dimensions:
Length(Strap to Bottom)-37"
Actual Length-10"
Width-14" "I am ready to travel with you. Made for you, there is only one of me. This is my story: I am a Hong Kong Willie Hippie Bag, arriving from one destination, joining you on your life’s journey. On these travels we will find a way that more of us change. As in my purpose and your purpose, we are all meant for many uses."
