Public Work
Wong’s public work is an extension of his painting practice that, while still exhibiting the same sensitivity and focus on the underlying currents found in our daily lives, allows him the opportunity to more directly address the relationship between art, environment, community, and lived space.
Each public work is site-specific and incorporates the unique contextual elements of each location including its architecture, history, and community values. Often, both historical and personal references are injected into the visual language of his images.
Wong has been commissioned by award-winning firms and entities including but not limited to LA County Arts, Lorcan O’herlihy Architects, Rapt Studio, CHET Architecture, and RIOS. His public work also extends to commercial and residential spaces.
This painting was commissioned by LA County for their new psychiatric care facility at the new Restorative Care Village at LA General Medical Center.
Sitting on the border between Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights, the Restorative Care Village will provide comprehensive support to individuals experiencing homelessness with an emphasis on mental health and well-being, directly addressing and providing support for the complex challenges of substance abuse, mental health conditions, housing instability, job training, and medical co-morbidity.
“A garden is more than just a place where we grow plants, flowers, and other forms of nature. It is a valuable metaphor for how our mindfulness, care, and intention can cultivate beauty, growth, and instill meaningful change. Addresses the overarching theme “Healing Plants”, the painting portrays botanical elements each symbolic of healing from unique cultural perspectives in physical, mental, and emotional ways. Hidden within the painting are also various objects that expand into greater holistic and spiritual understandings of “healing” and exploring overall well-being. Here at a quiet windowsill, the painting gives evidence that growth can always be found in the simplicity of our daily lives.”
Titled “Garden At The Window”, this painting sit at 6’ in height and 10’ in width and will be installed in the first floor lobby.
Barrington1503
Lorcan O’Herlihy Architects | Santa Monica (Sawtelle), CA | 2025
“At the heart of Barrington1503’s design is the concept of a spatial social gradient. Upon passing beneath the building’s distinct mural, residents move through a shared private courtyard and ascend via common circulation pathways that guide them upward. These pathways are more than just thoroughfares—they are spaces of connection, allowing for chance encounters and fostering an organic sense of community.”
Rapt Studio
Rapt Studio | Los Angeles (Culver City), CA | 2024
“The expansive wall at 8970 Washington Blvd. is not just a canvas—it's the gateway to a thriving arts community marked by growth, transition, and creativity.
This prominent space engages busy pedestrians, neighbors out with their children and pets, and commuters flowing through Culver City, sparking a dialogue between art and the everyday.”
Third Space
Chet Architecture | Los Angeles (Studio City), CA | 2023
“Los Angeles firm Chet Architecture crafts a deeply personal hillside home packed with primary colors—including a custom mural that now holds an even deeper meaning.”
Ballpit Room
The Color Factory | Chicago (Downtown), IL | 2022
“The Color Factory’s Chicago location features a huge nostalgic mural, crafted on structure from the original Sears Tower. Artist Adrian Kay Wong, who received his BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2013, created the mural to reflect the sentimental yet melancholic parts of the city. The mural draws inspiration from places like Navy Pier, Garfield Park Conservatory, the historic Green Mill Cocktail Lounge, and much more.
The mural reflects on the artist’s experience living in Chicago. Inspired by all the times spent walking throughout the city, imagery and motifs present recognizable landmarks of the city from a pedestrian’s perspective. The mural aims to honor the experience of everyday moments.
This mural coincided with a product collection launch in collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Chicago included a print, pins, puzzle set, and more.
Cummings Estate
Chet Architecture | Los Angeles (Los Feliz), CA | 2022
“A collaboration between Callahan and designer Ghislaine Viñas, the stair’s interior, with a Adrian Kay Wong mural, is a joyous riot of color, texture, and pattern, the kaleidoscopic walls dancing on either side, flanking a coil of sky-blue carpeted steps.“ The imagery incorporates not only aspects of adjacent spaces but also features seen through the windows: the soft layers of the hills, gradients of green, curved roofs of the nearby observatory,” Wong says. Over the stair’s edge one can admire the hand-carved millwork from a century ago alongside contemporary art, one complementing the other.“ It was important to make a clear distinction between the modern and the historic,” Callahan says of the style mash-up.
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Kendall’s Brasserie
RIOS | Los Angeles (Downtown), CA | 2021
“With the inspiration of our iconic Kendall’s Blue paving the way, we brought in native Angeleno and muralist, Adrian Kay Wong, to further reimagine the space. Bold brush strokes complement crisp lines of brightly colored, strong shapes, reminiscent of mid-century French art.
To honor Kendall’s history and location, Adrian hid a number of noteworthy icons in his piece. Take a close look and you will find the chandeliers from Stern Grand Hall in the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, drawn curtains from the Ahmanson theatre, the pavement pattern from Jerry Moss Plaza, the wavy trim on Dorothy Chandler’s iconic opening night dress, or The Music Center logo.”
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Open Market
Open Market | Los Angels (Koreatown), CA | 2021
Private Residence
Residential | Los Angeles (Silverlake), CA | 2021
The Narrows
THE ROW DTLA | Los Angeles (Downtown), CA | 2020
“Wong’s mural, located on The Narrows, is what we might all be experiencing right now: a detailed look at the everyday objects we are getting to know so intimately as we spend more time than usual in our domestic worlds. Yet, Wong’s mural is a romanization of these seemingly insignificant items. Before painting the mural, Wong spent time photographing every detail of the space and many objects you will see make a delightful appearance in the work—a designer chair, the plants and flowers in the lobby and even the subtle light coming in from the back window.
According to Wong, “The inanimate objects have their own methods of storytelling, almost like they’re an icon that we can recognize, serving the function of a central figure in the work. The more you spend time in a certain space, the more you start to notice and understand the objects that are in your life.”
In “Reshape”, artist Adrian Kay Wong strips visual representation of its power by stretching, compacting, exaggerating, and reorganizing forms that structure environments. Taking the influence buildings and public spaces have beyond their physical entity as his focus, Wong explores the visual translation of real-world settings to painted surface.
“Reshape” touches upon these notions of image-making processes, but also alludes to implications of spatial identity and cultural authenticity in its decoding of the Mandarin Plaza in LA’s Chinatown. By deconstructing the Plaza to its most basic elements, Wong examines how design can construct methods of communication for exposing underlying narratives. Particularly, Chinatown’s paradoxical aesthetic of overly “Chinese” and yet palpably “American.”
The faux-authenticity of Chinatown’s decorative motifs and overt chinoiserie parallels Wong’s sentiment to his own ethnic background. Being too Asian “here” and too American “there” was, and still is, an enduring struggle. “Reshape” evokes the necessity to consider the contextual, expand perspective, and question first impressions and preconceived notions. Without the pagoda rooftops, the dragons, the stone animal sculptures, Reshape offers a re-imagining of Chinatown and, possibly, a more authentic visual and narrative dissemination.
This installation was sponsored by The Alley Fellowship from RIOS, which supports the collaboration between architects and artists in order to extend the spectrum of work and artists the A+D Museum showcases.