John Clang, born Ang Choon Leng (), is a Singaporean visual artist, photographer and independent filmmaker. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. National Museum of Singapore and Singapore Art Museum acquired his artwork as part of their permanent collection. Clang currently lives and works in Singapore and New York.
In 2018, his first feature film, Their Remaining Journey, had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam, and was nominated for the Bright Future Award. It is also the opening film for Painting with Light: Festival of International Films on Art at National Gallery Singapore.
Early years
Clang was born Ang Choon Leng (汪春龙) in Singapore. He earned his nickname while in National Service in Singapore as his badge read "C L Ang". At the age of 17, he enrolled in Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore to study fine arts but left after six months to assist the fine-art photographer Chua Soo Bin, who received the Cultural Medallion in 1988.
Work
Clang's work explores the commonplaces, mundane subject matters and common nuances that closely relate to our daily life. His work portrays his fascination with time, space and how one negotiates the human existence with these dimensions.
The Land of My Heart (2014) is a series of work which re-appropriates the icon of the Singapore Girl, Singapore Airlines' air stewardess, to contemplate vestiges of identity and personal memories encapsulated in nostalgic spaces of a rapidly evolving motherland.
Being Together (2010–2012) is a series of family portraits using Skype VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) technology to do live recording of family members and project them across continents.
Clang started on the series by photographing his own family in 2010. From 2010 to 2012, he located Singaporeans around the world and travelled to cities such as London, Paris, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Los Angeles and Seattle to photograph them with their families in Singapore. These 40 family portraits were part of a showcase of over 90 works by Clang exhibited at the National Museum of Singapore in January 2013, together with more than 40 historical family portraits from the museum's collection.
Time (2009) is a series that involves recording a location, to show the passing of time in a montage style.
Exhibitions
Selected solo exhibitions
2001 Backs, DVF studio, New York City
2003 They Were in Color: 4 June 2001 – 27 January 2002, Galerie Colette, Paris, France 2003 Fear of Losing the Existence, Bank Art Gallery, Los Angeles, USA 2004 Clang. A Self Portrait, Jendela Gallery/The Esplanade, Singapore 2007 Clang: A White Book, The Substation, Singapore 2010 Con(Front), 2902 Gallery, Singapore 2012 John Clang: Self Reflection, Pékin Fine Arts, Beijing, China 2013 Being Together: Family & Portraits – Photographing with John Clang, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore 2013 When I say you are dreaming, so am I, 2902 Gallery, Art Stage Singapore, Singapore 2014 (Re)Contextualizing My Mind, Pékin Fine Arts, Hong Kong. 2016 The World Surrounding an Indoor Plant, FOST Gallery, Gillman Barracks, Singapore