Author Description

Over the past twenty-five years, Vancouver-based artist Ken Lum has developed a large and compelling body of work that includes painting, sculpture, performance and photography. From exuberant paintings of nonsensical language to arrangements of furniture that deliberately block their conventional use; from shopkeeper signs that combine the language of commercial identity with personal messages to mazes that incorporate mirrors and poetic texts, Lum's multi-faceted work is consistent in its exploration of the tension between individual identity and the unrelenting processes of acculturation that pervade contemporary urban life. Since the early 1980s, Lum has regularly been represented in exhibitions throughout North America, Europe and Asia, including such prestigious shows as Documenta, the Shanghai Biennale and, most recently, the Istanbul Biennal. This richly illustrated volume, which contains insightful essays by celebrated critics and curator Grant Arnold, accompanies a large-scale exhibition organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery that celebrates Lum's entire career and showcases important aspects of his work that have never been seen before in North America. Clearly written and sumptuously designed, Ken Lum showcases the intelligent, provocative and passionate work of one of Canada's foremost artists, recent winner of the Hnatyshyn Visual Arts Award for outstanding achievement by a Canadian artist.