Wucius Wong was born in 1936 in Guangdong and moved to Hong Kong at an early age. He recalls the feeling of intellectual isolation in the 1950s and 60s, when travel was highly restricted and international culture had not really arrived in Hong Kong in full force. The solo exhibition of Zao Wuki at the New Asia College was the first time he recalls being exposed to profound works of modernism and world-class quality. This became a turning point for many artists, including Wong's eminent teacher Lü Shoukun, whose works also soon after displayed a confident move into pure abstraction.

In the early 1960s, he received a scholarship to study art and design, where he actually focused on art t...