"Language" Painting

John Chang dreams in many worlds and brings back remnants. In his recent works, figures come and go—yet no one is seen. Migrators leave only shadows in the air and faint marks on the sidewalks. Their words and echoes drift through storms of sharp, black fragments flying in all directions. Drawing from his East/West identity, Chang explores memory and displacement, conjuring flashbacks from lives lived across many landscapes. Born and raised in Shanghai, China, Chang is now based in Southern California. His work has been widely exhibited at institutions including the Alexander Brest Museum at Jacksonville University (FL), Fresh Paint Art Gallery (Culver City, CA), Palm Springs Art Museum (CA), COOS Art Museum (OR), and the Massillon Museum (OH). His art has been featured in publications and media such as Pasadena Star-News, KTLA, Art in America, and Art Ltd. Chang’s work is held in numerous public and private collections, including the San Diego International Airport, the San Diego Civic Art Collection, the Star Hotel in Sydney, Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, the Regis Hotel in New York, the San Diego Museum of Art, and the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts. He holds an MFA in Visual Art from the College of Art and Design at Lesley University and a BA from the School of Art and Design at the Shanghai Institute of Technology. He also studied with renowned artists Xu Bing and Judith Barry.