BY SOHINI LAHIRI Growing up in Tampa, I spent a period of time fascinated by a quirky,
eye-catching landmark at Fletcher Avenue and Interstate 75. This was
also the period of time I spent obsessed with making binoculars out of
toilet paper rolls and necklaces out of pop tops. To me, this sight was
the epitome of similar creative craziness, and I often found myself
looking for it during car journeys, hoping it hadn’t disappeared
overnight. But time passes and so does the urge for pop-top necklaces, and
observant eyes don’t notice the same sights. It wasn’t until recently
that I once again took note of the scene, with its broken down orange
helicopter, a tree made of what seems to be indestructible balloons and a
blue-and-white house covered with trash remade into art. It’s the home of Hong Kong Willie, artist of reuse. I finally paid a visit to this art gallery after many years of
wondering about the story behind it. The pavement leading to the door is
painted with handprints and splatters, the store edged with upside down
Coke bottles. Streams of lobster buoys hang from the roof and also make
up the “tree” I marveled at so often from my car window. Various shoes, bottles, clocks and signs are glued to the side of the
store, and there’s a tribute to Sept. 11 off to the side. No one seemed
to be home, so I called the number on the “WE’RE OPEN” sign, which
brought a middle-aged man in a bright Hawaiian shirt from behind the
store. After a few basic questions, Joe Brown begins to open up about the history surrounding his art. Brown, better known as Hong Kong Willie, says he was an artist from the
start. “Everyone is born an artist,” he said. “However some are granted
the gift of being able to express that art.” As a young boy, his mother decided to send him to art school, which he says changed the course of his life forever. At the age of 8, Brown recalls being heavily influenced by the lessons,
which included transforming a Gerber baby bottle, something with no
real value, into a piece of art. His teacher had spent an enormous
amount of time and effort in Hiroshima, Japan, helping those affected by
the atomic bombs. Brown learned many lessons about recycling from this
teacher, who had come from Hong Kong. Brown added an American name,
Willie, to Hong Kong for his nickname Hong Kong Willie. While Brown grew up to be an artist, he left the world of mainstream art to return to his background in technology. “But on Nov. 13th, 1981 … on a Friday at 1:30 in the afternoon, I had
an epiphany,” Brown says. “I was at a friend’s house right across the
street,” pausing to point at a row of apartments across from his store,
“and a series of events led me to rejoin the art world.” With the help of two other artists, Brown set up his business in the
Florida Keys in the early 1980s, then moved it to Tampa. Together, they
believed that they were predestined for the Green Movement, and have
been making art out of recyclables for close to 30 years. How’s business? He smiles. “It’s pretty wild.” Inside, Hong Kong Willie’s art includes glossy pieces of driftwood
restored and painted with beautiful landscapes and kernels of truth,
some of the gorgeous work priced in the six figures. But there’s also a
wide collection of handmade bags, wooden sculptures and sassy bracelets
for more moderate prices. A portion of the proceeds go to benefit the Green Movement, Brown says. With a laid-back swagger, Brown continues. “We live pretty minimally.
And all the funds we get from donations and our art sales are delegated
to green projects.” I’m not sure what I was expecting when I decided to visit Hong Kong
Willie. Certainly not the breathtaking art inside, and definitely not
the history behind it. I’m feeling thick-headed for not visiting years
ago, and say so. Brown offers a last bit of insight: “I’m a big believer in predestination and timing. If someone is not
ready to view art, the door is closed. Every piece of art that is made,
and every project we do is done for a reason. It doesn’t matter if that
reason shows up the next day, or walks in six years later; every piece
of art will find a home.”
TAMPA, Fla. – Have you ever seen the building on the corner of Fletcher and 75 exit 266 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, a Famous Tampa Art Gallery
By Tristram DeRoma
Business Profile: The Story Behind the Eye-Catching Art at I-75 Exit 266
Folk artist Joe Brown, better known as "Hong Kong Willie," makes art with a message at his home/studio near I-75's Exit 266.
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 '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.'
Many artists don’t produce more than one great, great,
great piece. And Miriosity, she just has all of those elements…
Miriosity has a great future.”
Miriosity To A Good Home
$176,000
He keeps a blog about his art at http://www.hongkongwillie.org/ . 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 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.
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 , 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."
