Ken Lum: Scotiabank Photography Award
Ken Lum, Thanh Thuy Vu, Jänner, Gabi Petrikovic, Februar, Hamila De Souza, März, Manfred Klumpp, April, from the series Schnitzel Company, 2004-2023, inkjet prints. Courtesy of Magenta Plains Gallery, New York/Royale Projects, Los Angeles
Written by Alexander Loukopoulos
Canadian artist Ken Lum understands that interpretation is in a constant state of flux. His approach, informed by cultural and social studies, semiology, psychoanalysis and political philosophy offers “a unique blend of humour and critical inquiry” and “invites audiences to confront pressing political and social concerns.” Indeed, Lum is a decades-long explorer of the relationship between text and images; how they play off of each other and shape viewers' understanding of contemporary societal dynamics. His art dutifully becomes a product of the fields in which they exist; fields which cannot be attributed to a specific time in history, but instead are forever in a state of redefinition.
Lum, winner of the 2023 Scotiabank Photography Award, is the subject of one of The Image Centre’s latest exhibits, on display until August 9 and comprising his signature series along with new works. His photo-text work, dating back to the 80s, is as socially pertinent as it is funny. For example, his Schnitzel Company (2004/2023) series pairs twelve text panels with twelve portraits of the “employees of the month” of a fictional fast-food chain. The names, faces, and differing languages imply this chain has a diverse workforce. Yet each employee depicted is at a loss for individuality, diminished to a smiling face and a brightly-colored uniform - a commentary on how corporations view their employees as interchangeable units of labor.
Ken Lum, I’m Not Stupid. You’re the One Who’s Stupid, from the series Image/Repeated Text, 1994/2023, powder coated aluminum with vinyl. Courtesy of Magenta Plains Gallery, New York/Royale Projects, Los Angeles
Text in conjunction with imagery has historically been used as a means of clarification. Think of places like airports or advertisements - cases where words and pictures work together to define a specific direction or emotion relevant to the space that it occupies and the role that that space plays in society. Lum’s photo-text work ironically produces the opposite effect. Though the text he depicts does help to contextualize his photography, the photo-text pair as a whole in relation to everything else never points towards a specific conclusion in itself. As in the case of Schnitzel Company, the photo-text pair has to be viewed through the lens of a larger social narrative to reach its full artistic potential - a practice which requires an artist with a keen understanding of society at large and not just the pitfalls that arise on the day to day.
Ken Lum, Lau Hoi Ting Recalls a Poem of Her Youth, from the series Image/Repeated Text, 1994/2023, powder coated aluminum with vinyl. Courtesy of Magenta Plains Gallery, New York/Royale Projects, Los Angeles
But the mundane is still a source of inspiration for Lum, who is “interested in the everyday because it is oppressive to a lot of people.” He recognizes that everyday problems are signs in themselves, signaling a larger societal problem big enough to trickle down and affect the lives of the common man or woman. His work forms a kind of symbiosis with the current state of civilization. Like the internet meme, which also uses text and imagery to convey very specific, abstract meanings within certain contexts, his art has proven to be a mirror that has no choice but to reflect and build off of itself and, by extension, the world around it.
Attempting to objectify a subjective world which constantly redefines itself is no small feat. But Ken Lum continues to lead the way, leaving his own unique trail of breadcrumbs for his viewers to follow.
Ken Lum, Skateboarder (detail), from the series World Portrait, 1991, acrylic on canvas with silk screen prints. Collection of Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
