Kaleo Kong

Beginnings Ho' omaka 'ana

The life and work of Kaleo, Kal Kong, began in 1950's Hawaii pre-statehood, before tourism as a product. A boy with Chinese and Hawaiian ancestry and an artist's heart, Kaleo grew up in a tropical setting starkly outlined by the mountain rain forests, Diamond Head, the North Shore and the naval base at Pearl Harbor where his father was a laborer.

Within these borders, under the blue hues of the Oahu sky, he came to experience his environment as a character in the play of life. By the time he finished high school he began to chronicle this backdrop which lead to a world of graphic design.

The graphic design shop he opened in a retail warehouse center became a hub of local artistic buzz. Metal and graphic artists shared space and ideas. His vision for commercial art and design fanned many new enterprises which expanded with the growth of the local economy.

Away Ha' alele, ho' i

In 1979, portfolio in hand, he leaped with his theater-bound mate to New York to begin a 30 year career in advertising art, design, creative direction and photography. At the time, album covers were still hand crafted works of artistic delight and Kal had just the right vision and touch for over 100 multi-faceted cover...