JAMES CLAR (Filipino-American b. 1979, Wisconsin USA. Based in Manila, Philippines)
James Clar is a light and media artist. His interest is in new technological production processes and their application to artistic narrative forms. He studied film at New York University and received his Masters from NYU's Interactive Telecommunications Program.
His work explores the conceptual and narrative potential of light and technology. These systems are integrated into our daily lives, altering the way we receive information and communicate. They inform our perception of reality, time, and space. Every system for communication enhances certain types of information while limiting and simplifying others. These modulated effects to our perception have become a thematic focus to his works and a way to experiment with narrative forms.
From 2006 till 2012 James’ studio was based in Dubai where he became an active participant in the developing arts and culture scene. In 2012 he moved back to New York and in 2021 relocated to the Philippines with his studio now based in Manila.
Clar was an artist in residence at Eyebeam Atelier in New York, Fabrica in Italy, and the FedEx Institute of Technology/Lantana Projects in Memphis. His artwork has been included in exhibitions at Glucksman Museum (Dublin), The New Museum of Contemporary Arts (New York), Pera Museum (Istanbul), Cam Francis Museum (Barcelona), MACBA (Barcelona), and SeMA (Seoul). He has been commissioned to develop largescale installations for 21c Museum Hotels (Oklahoma), Parasol Unit Foundation for the Arts (UK), and Fraport Headquarters (Frankfurt).
EDUCATION
2019 Adjunct Professor, Light as An Art Medium, Graduate Course, NYU, New York
2003 Master in Media Art, Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University, NY
2001 Bachelor of Arts, Film, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 OpenSpace, Ayala Museum, Manila
2021 Space Folding, Praise Shadows Art, Boston
Share Location, Silverlens Gallery, Manila
2020 Noise Field #1b, Art Fair Philippines, Manila
Press Reset, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2019 Dynamic Entities, Jane Lombard Gallery solo at Untitled, Miami
Noise Field #1, Silverlens Gallery, Manila
2018 The World Never Ends, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2017 Distant Lights, Strongroom, Newburg NY
Volta NY, Galeria Senda, New York
2016 False Awakenings, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2015 Double Rainbow All The Way, Carbon 12, Dubai
2014 SEEK, Carroll / Fletcher, London
ALL EVERYTHING, Parasol unit for contemporary art, London
2013 Data Packets, Galeria Senda, Barcelona
2012 Iris Was A Pupil, Carbon12 Gallery, Dubai
Volta NY, Blythe Projects, Los Angeles
2011 ART FUTURES, ART HK 11, Hong Kong
2010 What Goes Around Comes Around, Caprice Horn Gallery, Berlin
Acceleration, Art Dubai, Dubai
2009 For Your Eyes Only, Traffic, Dubai
2008 Galerie Roger Tator, Festival of Light, Lyon
2007 Lab [AU], Brussels
2006 SubSpace South, Memphis
Material Art Gallery, Memphis
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022 S.E.A. Focus: All States No State, Singapore
Portrait of a Nation II, Abu Dhabi
2021 Light Upon Light: Light Art from 1960s onward, Riyadh
2020 Winter Light, Southbank Centre, London
Anticipating the Day, SIlverlens, Manila
100 Ways to Live a Minute, Pushkin Museum, Moscow
Domestic Odysseys, Galeria Senda, Barcelona
In Celebration of the Natural World, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2019 Error De Calculo, Galeria Impakto, Lima
Memories of Earth, 870 Park Ave, New York
Fifth World Problems, Studio 525, New York
Gravitational Collapse, One Liberty Plaza, New York
Power to the (Post) Truth, Jane Lombard Gallery, New York
2018 Glucksman Museum, Ireland
Wavelength, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai
Plugin, Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul
Light, CoAD Gallery at NJIT, New Jersey
Transmission, Galerie Huit, Hong Kong
Untitled San Francisco, Jane Lombard Gallery, San Francisco
2017 Synthesize: Art + Music, Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville
Day For Night, Houston
Flatland, Mana BSMT, Miami
Looking at One Thing and Thinking of Something Else: Part 3, Carroll / Fletcher, London
Color Creation, Col-Lab gallery at Tokyo Polytechnic University, Tokyo
No Vacancy II, Alt + Esc curated show @ Squat Gallery, Brooklyn
Letters…, Athr Gallery, Jeddah
That’s Not It, Mana Contemporary BSMT, New Jersey
2016 colección olorVISUAL, Can Framis Museum, Barcelona
Looking at One Thing and Thinking of Something Else: Part 2, Carroll / Fletcher, London
Slipping Tripping Falling Flipping, Meet D3 Dubai, Dubai
2015 This Is Not A Love Song, Pera Museum, Istanbul
Peace Minus One, Seoul Museum of Art, Korea
Smoke And Mirrors, Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville USA
She Sells Sea Shells By The Seashore, Eric Firestone Gallery, New York
James Clar / Dennis Loesch, Lange Strasse 31, Frankfurt
Museum of Art & Design, Singapore
2014 Rockaway!, MoMA PS1 / Honolulu Biennial, New York
Summer Art 2014, Sharjah Art Museum, Sharjah UAE
Big Bang Data, Center for Contemporary Culture (CCCB), Barcelona
The Language of Human Consciousness, Athr Gallery, Jeddah
Dazed & Confused, Eric Firestone Gallery, New York
They Sicken Of The Calm Who Know The Storm, Fridman Gallery, New York
OnScreen, Carroll / Fletcher, London2013
2013 CurateNYC, Top 150, Rush Arts Gallery, New York
Aurora Dallas, AT&T Performing Arts Center, Dallas
“Coming To Terms”, Jackman Humanities Institute, Toronto
“This Is Not A Love Song”, Museum Palau de la Virreina, Spain
LumenRay, Jerome Zodo Gallery, Milan, Italy
2012 Segment 3, Borusan Contemporary Museum, Istanbul
Segment 2, Borusan Contemporary Museum, Istanbul
Vienna Art Fair, Vienna
Forwards / Vorwaerts. Q Contemporary, Beirut
Dark Side of the Moon, Carbon 12, Dubai
Art Dubai, Dubai
The Bravery of Being Out Of Range II, Athr Gallery, Jeddah
2011 The State: Social / Anti-Social, Traffic, Dubai
West End?, Museum On The Seam, Jerusalem
Art Futures, Art Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Espace Louis Vuitton Hong Kong, Hong Kong
ATHR Art Gallery, Jeddah
Art Dubai, Dubai
THE STATE: UPPERS & DOWNERS, Traffic, Dubai
I Don’t Need Your Money Honey All I Need is Love, Traffic, Dubai
2010 Art Asia, Miami
THE STATE, Traffic, Dubai
Armed, Abu Dhabi Art 2010, Abu Dhabi
SCOPE Basel, Basel
ART HK 10, Hong Kong
2009 The Singular Suit, Somerset House, London
My Name is Robot, thejamjar, Dubai
2008 Cliche in a Box, Traffic, Dubai
Chanel Mobile Art Tokyo, Tokyo
2007 Museum of Science and Innovation, Tokyo
2006 Pop!Tech conference, Maine
Wired Next Fest, New York
9th Japan Media Arts Festival, Museum of Photography, Tokyo
2005 NHK Digital Arts Festival, Tokyo
Seoul Design Festival, Seoul
WIRED NextFest, Chicago
8th Japan Media Arts Festival, Museum of Photography, Tokyo
Milan Triennial, Milan
2004 VIPER Basel, Basel
The Chelsea Art Museum, New York
2003 New Museum of Contemporary Arts, New York
ARTIST RESIDENCY
2018 Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ
2006 FedEx Institute of Technology & Lantana Projects, Memphis
2004 Fabrica Research Facility, Benetton’s Design Research Facility, Italy
2003 Eyebeam Atelier, New York
LECTURES / PRESENTATIONS
2022 Suzanne Hudson, Tanya Sheehan, Guadalupe Maravilla, Sria Chatterjee, James Clar, and Stephanie Misa,
Brooklyn Rail
2021 Zach Lieberman (MIT professor) & James Clar, Praise Art Shadows Boston
Boots Herrera (Chief Curator Ateneo Gallery), Silverlens, Manila
2020 Paul Pfeiffer, James Clar, Ara Laylo, and Sara Raza, Hawai’i Contemporary / Philippine Consulate
James Clar, Shahpour Pouyan, and curator Sara Raza, Praise Art Shadows Boston
Alex Czetwersinski & James Clar, New Media Castle, Romania
Steph Misa & James Clar, University of Arts Helsinki, Finland
2019 New York University graduate program ITP, Adjunct Professor “Light as an Art Medium”
2018 Exhibition Panel: James Clar, Paul Pfeiffer, Julia Kaganskiy
New York University, Interactive Telecommunications Program
MANA Mass: Sara Raza, Deanna Haggag, James Clar
2017 Distant Lights, artist talk, Newburg, NY
2012 SENSEight #3, New York, USA
“The Hatch” Art Dubai, Dubai
2011 The Pavilion, Dubai UAE
2010 Art Abu Dhabi 2010, Dubai, UAE
Pecha Kucha Night, Dubai, UAE
ARTHK10 – Hong Kong International Art Fair, Hong Kong, China
2009 Tokyo Polytechnic University, Tokyo, Japan
2008 Arquiset Symposium, Barcelona
Lightscapes Workshop @ Hangar, Barcelona
Pecha Kucha Night, Dubai Spring
New York University (ITP), New York Spring
2007 Professional Lighting Designers Conf, London Oct
Tama Art University, Tokyo Sept
2006 American Institute of Architects (AIA), Memphis April
Meisei University, Tokyo Jan
2005 Seoul Design Festival, Korea
Klein-Dytham’s Pecha Kucha Night, Tokyo Fall
Shift Magazine’s DotMOV Festival, Japan
2004 Ateneo de Manila University Spring
COMMISSIONS
2021 Julius Baer VIP lounge for Art Dubai, UAE
2020 James Clar X Canada Goose, Toronto
2019 Gravitational Collapse, NYC Percent for the Arts, One Liberty Plaza, New York
2016 21c Museum Hotels, Oklahoma
2015 Sustained Fireworks, RCCL, Miami, USA
2014 Parasol Unit, London, United Kingdom
2013 Synesthesia, Fraport Headquarters, Frankfurt, Germany
2011 Media Hype, Free Fall, Lighting Installations at The Pavilion Downtown Dubai, Dubai
2010 Soundwave / Order Chaos Order, Lobby Art Installations at Rolex Tower, Dubai
1989, Public Installation for Art Abu Dhabi 2010 and Traffic
2008 3D Display Cube v4, Core Research for Evolutional Science and Technology(CREST),
University of Tsukuba Tokyo
2006 Inside / Out, Public Installation, FedEx Institute of Technology / Lantana Projects, Memphis
SELECTED PRESS ARTICLES
2019 Feb – ArtAsiaPacific exhibition review
http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/WebExclusives/SpeakingPowerToPostTruth
2018 Oct – ArtAsiaPacific exhibition review
http://artasiapacific.com/Magazine/WebExclusives/TheWorldNeverEndsJamesClar
2016 Sept – Alternative Escape
http://www.altescplatform.com/vol4#/james-clar/
March – The Creators Project
http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/human-perception-sculptures-james-clar
2015 Feb – Or Not Magazine
http://www.ornotmagazine.com/project/james-clar-abstraction-reality/
2014 Nov – POSTmatter
http://postmatter.com/#/currents/the-sculptural-screen
2013 June – Berlin Art Link
http://www.jamesclar.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2013-June-Berlin-Art-Link.pdf
2012 Oct – The Creators Project
http://www.jamesclar.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2012-Oct-The-Creators-Project-article.pdf
2011 Oct – The National, UAE newspaper
http://www.jamesclar.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2011-Nov-The-National.pdf
2006 Feb – Yahoo News, online article
http://www.jamesclar.com/new/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/2005-March-Yahoo-News.pdf
