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Scotiabank Photography Award: Ken Lum

May 9–August 3, 2024
Main Gallery
Curator: Gaëlle Morel

This exhibition, comprising signature series along with new works, celebrates the career of Canadian artist Ken Lum, winner of the 2023 Scotiabank Photography Award. Lum is internationally known for his conceptualist and often humorous approach, which draws on methods from cultural and social studies, semiology, psychoanalysis, and political philosophy. The artist’s impactful practice utilizes photography to investigate the relationship between language and representation in the public space. By doing so, Lum critically challenges the social hierarchies and dominant narratives related to identity, class, and gender that are always at play in capitalist and postcolonial societies.

Public Programs

Artist Talk: Ken Lum
Monday, May 6, 2024 | 6 pm
Enter at 122 Bond Street, Lecture Room IMA-307 (third floor)
Seating is limited and registration is required

Opening Reception
Wednesday, May 8, 2024 | 6–8 pm

Special Exhibition Tour | Scotiabank Photography Award: Ken Lum
Gaëlle Morel and Dan Adler (York University)
Wednesday, May 15, 2024 | 6 pm

All events take place at The Image Centre (33 Gould St., Toronto) unless otherwise noted.

Fig. 1

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

Fig. 2

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 the artist, Magenta Plains, New York and Royale Projects, Los Angeles

Fig. 3

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

Artist Biography

Ken Lum (Canada/USA, b. 1956) works in various media, including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and public art. He is currently Chair of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design, Philadelphia. Lum’s art has been included in major exhibitions such as Documenta 11 (Germany), the Venice Biennale (Italy), the São Paulo Biennial (Brazil), and the Whitney Biennial (USA). He has received a Guggenheim Fellowship (1999), the Hnatyshyn Foundation Visual Arts Award (2007), the Gershon Iskowitz Prize (2019), and the Governor-General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2020). He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2017. Lum is represented by Magenta Plains, New York, and Royale Projects, Los Angeles.