Tang Ling Nah
born 1971
BIOGRAPHY
Tang Ling Nah has a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) with Distinction
from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University. In 2002, she
held her first solo exhibition, activated C, showcasing her charcoal drawings of
urban spaces in Singapore. Through her works, Tang seeks to reflect and address
the conditions of the modern city, particularly the lack of interpersonal
intimacy in urban life. In June 2003, she travelled to Western Sydney with nine
other Singapore artists for an artists exchange project which culminated in a
collaborated exhibition titled Potluck. Besides her own art practice, she has
also coordinated several exhibitions, including 10:10, the artists exchange
project co-hosted by The Substation Ltd and Plastique Kinetic Worms, Singapore,
and Deriving Spaces, an affiliate project of Nokia Singapore Art 2001–2. Most
recently, she curated Cinepolitans: Inhabitants of a Filmic City, a visual arts
exhibition at Jendela, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay. She is a part-time
lecturer at LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore, where she conducts the
Foundation Drawing Workshop and Art History tutorials, and Life Drawing at
Diploma level. She has just recently been selected as a finalist for the
Singapore-ASEAN Art Awards 2003. She is a winner of the Della Butcher Award
2000, and received an Honourable Mention at the Philip Morris Singapore Art
Awards 2001/2. Two of her works were also highly commended at the 20th UOB
Painting of the Year 2001.
Young Artist Award 2004
In 2000, Tang Ling Nah graduated from LASALLE-SIA
College of the Arts with a Diploma in Fine Art (Painting). She then obtained her
Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) with Distinction from Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology University in 2001.
Although Tang also holds a Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) degree from the
National University of Singapore, her passion has always been drawing and
painting. During her secondary school and junior college days, she was already
an active participant of arts and cultural events. As an undergraduate, she was
the art director for the NUS Pharmaceutical Society’s annual journal,
Pharmaceutica.
Tang is one of the few artists in Singapore who has chosen charcoal as her
primary medium. Meditative and thought-provoking, her works are usually
large-scale drawings exploring urban space and the conditions of the modern
city.
In her first solo exhibition titled activated C held in 2002, she presented
charcoal drawings of local architectural spaces that question and mediate the
relationship between humans and their environment. To date, Tang has taken part
in numerous group exhibitions—both locally and abroad. Her works have been
showcased in Bangkok and Sydney.
At the Singapore-ASEAN Art Awards 2003 organised by Philip Morris Asia Ltd, Tang
was one of the five Juror’s Choice, and she represented Singapore for the ASEAN
Art Awards in Bangkok in August 2004. She was also a winner of the Della Butcher
Award 2000 and received an Honourable Mention at the Philip Morris Singapore Art
Awards 2001/2. Two of her works were also highly commended at the 20th UOB
Painting of the Year 2001.
A committed and active member of the local visual arts scene, Tang has
coordinated several exhibitions, and curated Cinepolitans: Inhabitants of a
Filmic City, an exhibition held in 2003 at The Esplanade–Theatres by the Bay. In
the same year, she represented Singapore in an artist exchange and exhibition
programme called Potluck in Australia. She was also involved in an
Artist-in-Residency Programme managed by LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, at
Studio 106.
Currently, Tang is pursuing her master’s degree in Fine Art at LASALLE-SIA
College of the Arts, where she also teaches part-time.
Activated C ~ is the name of an exhibition of
charcoal drawings by artist TANG Ling Nah at the Societe Generale Gallery in
Alliance Francaise de Singapour from 9 - 20 Nov 2002.
The title "Activated C" is a direct reference to the medium TANG uses in her
drawings. "C" is the chemical symbol for the inert element "carbon". The hardest
material on earth, diamond, is composed of carbon atoms. Incidentally, the
charcoal used for drawing is carbon.
It is noted that when charcoal is specially treated with oxygen to make it
porous , it becomes an "activated charcoal". Activated charcoal is widely used
to adsorb odorous or coloured substances from gases or liquids. It is thus used
in many chemical processes (such as the treatment of water) for purification
purposes. In fact, it is used in anti-diarrhoeal treatment to adsorb toxins in
the gastro-intestinal tract.
The exhibition title is called activated C - not because drawing charcoal has
the same function as activated charcoal in chemical processes - but because they
are derived from the same inert element, carbon, which is "lifeless".
A piece of drawing charcoal is just an inert piece of burnt wood but through the
hands of an artist, various transformations can occur and "life" can be
re-created or "activated" on the paper (or other support). The marks and
textures created by the medium contribute to this "activation".
In her drawings, Ling Nah hopes to narrate "the crowded loneliness of urban life
and the complex relationships between environment and people". The various tones
of greys and black that charcoal produces provide the platform to re-create
Singapore's architectural spaces into "dark haunting grounds", thus speaking of
the probable anxiety of living in urban space.
The space between the marks is reminiscent of the pores in activated charcoal.
Does this space function like activated charcoal to "adsorb" something? Could it
point to a possible route for escape and survival for the occupants? Or does it
suggest something happening within? Thus, viewers of the drawings may also
question about the "presence and absence"; "the overt and the hidden"; what is
"before and after"; "there and not there"...
1. where million of tiny pores between the carbon atoms are being "opened up" by
the oxygen atoms.
2. not "absorb" as the materials are attached to the carbon by chemical
attraction only.
Gallery Hours: Mon - Sat 11.30am - 8pm
4th Floor, 1 Sarkies Road, Singapore 258130
Tel: 6737 8422 / 6833 931
Fax: 6733 3023
Artist Statement
I am concerned with the Singapore urban environment, particularly its dominating
architecture, and its effects of melancholy and violation of the figure. Through
my charcoal drawings of darkened local architectural spaces, I seek to question
the over-orderliness of the modern city and the dearth of intimate interpersonal
relationships in it.
Training
Jul 2000-Jun 2001 - Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) with Distinction, Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia
Jul 1997-Jun 2000 - Diploma in Fine Art (Painting), LASALLE-SIA College of the
Arts, Singapore
Jul 1990-May 1993 - Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) Degree, Faculty of Science
(Pharmacy), National University of Singapore, Singapore
Solo Exhibition
2002 - ACTIVATED C-AN
EXHIBITION OF CHARCOAL DRAWINGS BY TANG LING NAH
- Societe Generale Gallery, Alliance Francaise de Singapour, Singapore
Selected Group Exhibition
2003 - THE 6TH ANNUAL NATIONAL TEOCHEW ART & CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY CUM
- 2005 OVERSEAS TEOCHEW ARTISTS EXHIBITION, Ngee Ann Cultural Centre, Teochew
Building, Singapore
- POTLUCK - An Artists Exchange Exhibition, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts
Centre, Penrith, and Con-Temporary Arts Access Centre, Parrametta, Sydney,
Australia
- CINEPOLITANS: INHABITANTS OF A FILMIC CITY -An Exhibition on Art, Film and the
City Jendela, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, Singapore
- BOXED II - An Exhibition on the Idea of Work Within a Box Plastique Kinetic
Worms, Singapore
- 10:10 - Artists Exchange Exhibition co-hosted by The Substation Ltd and
Plastique Kinetic Worms, Plastique Kinetic Worms, Singapore
2002 - THE 5TH TEOCHEW PEOPLE ART EXHIBITION, Ngee Ann Cultural Centre, Teochew
Building, Singapore
- ARTSingapore 2002, The Contemporary Asian Art Fair Suntec City, Singapore
- FIRST STEPS: IMAGES OF ASEAN, Singapore Art Awards 2001/2002, A Travelling
Exhibition by Philip Morris Group of Companies
- Paragon Gallery, Tanjong Pagar Community Club, Bukit Batok East Community
Club, Changi Simei Community Club, Ulu Pandan Community Club, Bishan Community
Club, Singapore
2001 - THE 4TH TEOCHEW PEOPLE ART EXHIBITION, Ngee Ann Cultural Centre, Teochew
Building, Singapore
- THE 20TH UOB PAINTING OF THE YEAR EXHIBITION, United Overseas Bank Plaza 1,
Singapore
- INFINITY, 8th RMIT University Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) Exhibition, Earl Lu
Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
2000 - PRACTICE, Work-in-Progress Exhibition, RMIT University Bachelor of Arts
(Fine Art), LASALLE-SIA Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
- CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITION, Marine Parade Community Library, Singapore
- NO DEAD SPACE / NO WASTED MOTION, 24th Diploma in Fine Art Exhibition
- LASALLE-SIA Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
1998 - HISTORY OF ART EXHIBITION, LASALLE-SIA Gallery, LASALLE-SIA College of
the Arts, Singapore
Awards
2003 - Finalist, Singapore-ASEAN Art Awards 2003, Philip Morris Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore
2002 - Emerging Artists Fund, National Arts Council, Singapore
2002 - Honourable Mention, Singapore Art Awards 2001/2002, Philip Morris
Group of Companies, Singapore
2001 - Highly Commended Works-"Sandwiched" and "Descending/Ascending"
Representational Medium, Open Section, The 20th UOB Painting of the Year
Competition 2001, Singapore
2000 - Winner, The Della Butcher Award 2000, The Rotary Club of Orchard,
Singapore
Bibliography
2003 - Teo, Woan Yee (Journalist)
"A Return to a Touching Moment in Minutes and Seconds" (trans.) (Work "Sembawang"
reproduced), Culture (Visual Arts), zbNOW, Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore Press
Holdings, p.1
2003 - "Exploring Art, Film and the City" (Works "Glimmering" reproduced),
nafacts-A Quarterly Newsletter of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, p. 14
2003 - Wong, Susie (Freelance Writer, Artist)
"void decks and movie houses" (Works "Glimmering" and "Aligning" reproduced),
Review, d+a, a Design & Architecture (Asia) Magazine, SNP Media Asia Pte Ltd,
Issue 14.2003, p. 74-5
2003 - "Sembawang", Photographic Work published in Eye ���© City-A Visual
Account of the Last 24 Hours of 2002, First Fruits Publications, Singapore
2003 - "LASALLE-SIA Alumni Grant Scheme supports the artistic practice of
graduates", Arts Connections-A Quarterly Newsletter of LASALLE-SIA College of
the Arts, Singapore
2003 - Wong, Susie (Freelance Writer, Artist)
"activated C" (Works "Emerging Descent/Ascent" & "Staring Cases" reproduced),
Review-Art, The Arts Magazine, The Esplanade Co Ltd, Singapore
2002 - Goh, K. K. (Journalist)
"The Uneasiness of Urban-dwellers-An Exhibition of Charcoal Drawings by Tang
Ling Nah" (trans.), Culture (Visual Arts), zbNOW, Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore Press
Holdings, p. 6
2002 - "First Steps: Images of ASEAN, Asean Art Awards 2001/2002", Honourable-Mentioned
Work, "Minding Your Gap" published in Education Kit for Exhibition Tour,
National Arts Council Education Programme, Singapore
2001 - Lingham, Susie (Artist, Writer and Lecturer) "New Lines of Inquiry" (Work
"Mass Rapid Transit" reproduced), Infinity-8th RMIT University Bachelor of Arts
(Fine Art) Exhibition Catalogue, LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
2000 - "Della Butcher Award", Arts Connections-A Quarterly Newsletter of
LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, Singapore
2000 - Sian E. Jay (Writer, Lecturer) "One Moment in Time" (Work "Nostalgic Run"
reproduced), Life! The Straits Times, Singapore Press Holdings, p. 6
Five local artists explore space at Earl Lu Gallery
Monday, 29 March 2004
Five of Singapore 's most promising young artists investigate space as part of
the latest group exhibition at Earl Lu Gallery at LASALLE-SIA College of the
Arts. Featuring the artworks of Abdul Rashid Gapur, Khiew Huey Chian, Tang Ling
Nah, Sawn Hwang and Lim Shing Ee, X-Ray: Spatial Approaches and Processes aims
to examine both the artists' developmental processes as well as their personal
engagements with spatiality. It also intends to highlight these processes as a
significant and integral aspect of contemporary art practice.
Says Lawrence Tio, the curator of the exhibition: “ X-Ray: Spatial Approaches
and Processes highlights the often-overlooked significance of process in
contemporary art. In particular, it examines the processes involved in the
creation of a spatially-oriented work. This exhibition takes as its premise, the
processes and approaches of five Singaporean artists to their engagements with
space.”
For instance, Khiew's work seeks to question the functions of particular spaces.
By installing a ‘house' within an interior space of a gallery, he problematises
the relationships between interior and exterior spaces. On the other hand, Abdul
Rashid's Rear View features unappealing laundry hung in a random yet organised
manner – shadows and colours within the congested yet organised space. After
simplification of these complex aesthetics using lines on aluminium sheets, they
are repositioned and presented in a gallery – a space far removed from its
origin. Hwang's work, however, does not deal with spatial concerns on an
aesthetic level – he aims to epitomise the concept of the artwork as a pure
artistic form. His work, 88 Branded Pedestals shows 88 white Formica shelves
fixed onto the entrance walls of the gallery. They are empty shelves with no
objects or artwork on them – just empty spaces. Immediately viewers are
challenged with the questions “what makes art, art?”, and “if absence can be
accepted as art?”. Meanwhile, Tang deviates from her usual methodology for this
exhibition by leaving parts of her urbanscape drawing ‘incomplete' and by
continuing to develop the image throughout the duration of the exhibition. Lim's
work Sealed Medley , on the other hand, is an installation consisting of two
‘buildings' – a smaller, organically-shaped ‘building' made of clay, bringing to
mind an earthiness that exudes a sense of being out in the open, natural
landscape, as well as a larger wall-like structure that resembles an industrial
power plant or factory.
Says Tio: “The dominating urban landscape of Singapore and its social
implications has revealed itself to be a prevalent preoccupation among artists
in Singapore . While this is an unquestionably significant issue, my concern is
with the various processes and approaches through which local artists engage
with space and spatiality. This exhibition will examine not only the results of
these approaches but also reflect upon the processes taken along the way.”
AN EXHIBITION ON ART • FILM
• THE CITY
@JENDELA, ESPLANADE
22 Apr-18 May 2003
Cinepolitans: Inhabitants of a Filmic City brings into focus 3 powerful
influences, catalysts and references in contemporary life – Art, Film and the
City. This exhibition from 22 April to 18 May 2003 will be launched at one of
the most unusual and challenging gallery spaces in Singapore: Jendela at the
Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.
The exhibition features 7 Singapore artists who have been making critical
impressions with their probing art practices. Curated by Michael Lee Hong Hwee
and Tang Ling Nah, who are noted for their artistic practices dealing with film
and urban space respectively, the exhibition showcases various media, including
contemporary drawing, painting, photography, video, and installation.
Examine the impact and influence of film in a new light at Cinepolitans:
Inhabitants of a Filmic City through photographs by Chua Chye Teck; Han Kiang
Siew’s paper and video installation; video images from a camera thrown off a
building by Ho Tzu Nyen; a painting of a cinema’s interior by Hong Sek Chern;
John Low’s installation of photographs, videoclips and soundbites, Royston Tan’s
short film and Tang Ling Nah’s charcoal drawings.
Venue
Jendela, Esplanade Mall Level 2
Gallery Hours
Tue – Fri: 11am to 8.30pm, Sat – Sun: 10am to 8.30pm, Closed on Mon
Dates
The exhibition opens Tue 22 Apr 2003, 6.30pm, and continues until Sun, 18 Apr
2003
CURATORIAL STATEMENT
All media extracts from the texts below should be credited to curator Michael
Lee Hong Hwee:
‘Film and city are related in diverse ways, but neither cinema nor urban studies
has paid warranted attention to their connections. Likewise, visual arts
practice has not consistently or extensively considered the links between film
and the city – particularly not in the context of the city-State of Singapore.
The melding of ‘cine’ (a prefix from ‘cinema’) and ‘politans’ (a suffix roughly
translated as ‘citizens’) to yield the exhibition’s main title ‘Cinepolitans’ is
a strategic move to open up grounds for visual artists to investigate the myriad
plausible connections between cinematic and urban conditions. The premise of
this exhibition is that although we are subjects of film and the city, in other
words, we are cinepolitans in one way or another, we engage with the two
subjects not merely, and even less necessarily, through film or urban studies,
but possibly in numerous practical as well as artistic ways – visually,
literarily, performatively or through a blend of methods. With film and city
each having its own discourses, histories, theories and methodologies, their
fusion offers an array of possible permutations for exploration.
Cinepolitans is the first art event ever to consider the links between film and
city in the context of Singapore. It aims to suggest a space for differences
between film and city to slip, and for analogies between them to arise. The
title also refers to the pool of participating artists in the exhibition,
showcasing their works derived from their particular aesthetic engagements with
city and film – in other words, sharing their experiences of being inhabitants
of a filmic city like Singapore….
The conception of ‘Cinepolitans’ generates a range of complex and valuable
insights into both film and the city. A film and a city exist beyond the
respective confines of the cinema and the urban environment. A filmic city
occupies the imagination of every urban dweller, not just artists alone. It is
hoped that this exhibition provides a trigger to explore further relationships
between our physical surrounding and our favourite pastime within it.’
NOTES ON ARTISTS’ WORKS
All media extracts from the texts below should be credited to curator Michael
Lee Hong Hwee:
While Hong avoids making explicit social commentary, whether on film or on city,
preferring instead to let her viewers wonder, Tang Ling Nah is rather upfront
with her critique of the cinematic and urban conditions. Tang’s series of
noirscape drawings in this exhibition suggest narrative sequences embodied in
both film and the city. Unlike watching a film in the movie theatre, where one
has to sit through the screening from beginning till end, the participants of
Tang’s filmic sequences are free to begin with any frame, do anything inside
each, including running around and between them, according to their own whims
and fancies...
BIOGRAPHIES
All media extracts from the texts below should be credited to curator Michael
Lee Hong Hwee:
THE ARTISTS
excerpt
...
Tang Ling Nah has a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) with Distinction from the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University. She works mainly with
charcoal on paper, exploring local architectural spaces. Besides teaching
part-time at LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, she has also coordinated several
art exhibitions and participated in many exhibitions, including her first solo
in 2002. She won The Della Butcher Award 2000 and received an Honourable Mention
at the Philip Morris Singapore Art Awards 2001/2002. Two of her works were also
highly commended at the 20th UOB Painting of the Year 2001.
THE CURATORS
excerpt
...
Tang Ling Nah has a Bachelor of Arts (Fine Art) with Distinction from the Royal
Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University. She is a part-time lecturer
at LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, where she conducts the Foundation Drawing
Workshop and Art History tutorials. Besides her own art practice, she has also
coordinated several art exhibitions, including 10:10, an artists exchange
project co-hosted by The Substation Ltd. and Plastique Kinetic Worms, Singapore,
and Deriving Spaces, an affiliated project of Nokia Singapore Art 2001-2. In
2002, she managed her first solo exhibition, activated C.