Like glimpses into a visual diary, (Con)Front is an attempt to tackle both the conscious and the unconscious. These visual dialogues pin down the artist’s response to his environment and his relentless search for a sense of place and identity. Provocative and disquieting, minimal yet profound, the exhibition examines the deconstruction of memory and time, the human desire to project forwards, and the inevitable discovery of the past in the future.

Artist Statement

The mundane and the commonplace attract me—I profess an affinity for subject matter closely related to my daily life. I often dwell upon urban and contemporary themes and landscapes, be it the city or its inhabitants. Intrigued by subtle changes in my environment, I find a corresponding shift in my feelings and thoughts. Hence, my images are a poetic reflection of myself in response to the nuanced changes in my environment.

In work like 'Strangers’, ‘Time’,  ‘Remembering Strangers’, ‘My Twilight Window’ and ‘Self-reflection’, I grapple with issues of estrangement and intimacy in an urban space; the displacement of familiar urban objects, views and perspectives, as well as our sense of identity and place in this world. My work, especially in the realms of memory, identity and longing, is engulfed by the deeply personal and contextualised in my predicament as a New York-based Singaporean separated from his family;

‘Fear of Losing the Existence’ explores the fears of contemplating and experiencing the death of a loved one while ‘Guilt’ seeks to reveal the pain of disappointing our loved ones. As evidenced in lighter works ‘Me and My Friends’, my explorations of identity can also take a turn for the playful and provocative when I am inspired so. Ultimately, a good photograph is one that brings us face to face with our own existence while pulling the stranger standing next to us into the intimate radius of our lives. Connecting one and all, a good photograph condenses the beauty and strangeness of the world around us into a fluid light, too immense to fully comprehend but too beautiful to ignore.

Artist Bio

Born 'Ang Choon Leng' in Singapore in 1973, CLANG acquired his distinctive moniker during national service from his uniform name badge that read 'C L Ang'. In 1999, the multi-disciplinary artist and award-winning photographer relocated to New York to further his career. Whilst currently working with monumental brands of the likes of Hermès, Nike, IBM and Godiva, CLANG continues to develop a parallel artistic career by producing and exhibiting acclaimed bodies of work in photography.
From 2000 to 2006, CLANG was also Photographic Director of the experimental design and image magazine, Werk, a platform dedicated to supporting new talent and run by longstanding Comme des Garcons collaborator, Theseus Chan.

His photographic oeuvre reads like glimpses into a visual diary—autobiographical, evocative, and often elliptical. His images revisit key themes that continue a dialogue between contemporary landscapes and the individual person: Urban alienation and a personal search for a sense of place and identity; the provocative displacement of the individual through a juxtaposition of contexts; the interrogation and recovery of memory; the passage of time and its documentation through the axis of space.

Portfolio Review with John CLANG

Drawing from real-life experiences, the workshop will provide practical tips and professional advice to benefit  students and young professionals with clear insight on how to create and present a stronger and more dynamic portfolio while ensuring its relevancy and concision. Interested participants are required to register at the front counter by 1.40pm. Session starts at 2pm.  The instructors will then be able to prepare relevant information and portfolio advice to suit each individual participant.