RIP, Tobias Wong.

The art world lost an amazing artist and friend with the passing of Tobias Wong over the weekend at the age of 35.

Vancouver born and raised, Wong moved to New York in 1997, where he gained popularity in art and design circles for his witty and controversial product design commenting tongue-in-cheek on commerce and capitalism, like the Ballistic Rose Brooch constructed from black bulletproof ballistic nylon (to wear over the heart), the 1980's McDonald's plastic coffee spoons cast in solid gold for his "Coke Spoon" collection (which elicited a cease and desist from the mega corporation), the New York City Story Matchbook (my personal favorite -- the matches were cut out into the NYC skyline, save for two representing the Twin Towers) and his newest work, a functional iPad case in the guise of a used document envelope.

Wong's works were exhibited at the Cooper-Hewitt, the MoMa, Colette and many more.

My deepest condolences to his family, friends and partner Tim Dubitsky.

Tobias, you are gone too soon and will be missed always.








* Photos property of Tobias Wong, Nigel Parry, esquire.com, Google Images