Lum is associated with Vancouver photo-conceptualism and, like many of his colleagues in the movement, he is an academic, a writer, and a critic as well as an artist. Lum works in a range of media and has completed numerous public art commissions in Canada and abroad. His Portrait-Logo series from the mid-1980s is one of his earliest major projects, and it explores questions of identity and difference. Each portrait is paired with a logo, name, or descriptive text, using the typographic font as an expressive element. Untitled (Ed) depicts Dr. Edward Gibson, the SFU urban geographer in whose name the Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum is named.
Ken Lum, Untitled (Ed), 1984. C-print on coloured plexiglass, H-40 W-76 D-3 inches, Gift of E.M. Gibson Inc., 2008.
Title
Untitled (Ed)
Artist
Ken Lum
Year
1984
Medium
C-print on coloured plexiglass
Collection
SFU Art Collection
Donor
Gift of E.M. Gibson Inc.
Year Acquired
2008
Artists
Ken Lum is a Vancouver artist who has exhibited widely since 1982. Lum works in a variety of media and forms, from sculpture to photography. He is noted for his image/text works, which often impart a wry social commentary. He has exhibited his work in numerous international exhibitions including 2008 Gwangju Biennale, 10th Istanbul Biennial and documenta 11. Lum has also curated exhibitions including co-curator of Sharjah Biennial 7 and Shanghai Modern: 1919 – 1945. Lum is also co-founder and founding editor of Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art.