CelebrAsian

Thank you to everyone who applied to the open call for my next group exhibition, SLAYSIAN. Today, I am excited to announce the selected artists! Hailing from all over Chicago (and the surrounding Midwest area), these talented local Asian American artists include:

Aimy Tien, Alex Kostiw, Bumjin Kim, Caroline Liu, Charlene Moy, Chris Gallevo, Cindi Jean Zdrinc, Dan Castranova, Dao Nguyen, Eddie Yeung, Eric Mah, Gabriel Mo, James J Gu, Joyce Jodie Kim, Juliann Wang, Julius Bautista, Justin Suico, Kaitlyn Hwang, Kiki Jia Qi Zhen, Kristel Becares, Kristin Anahit Cass, Mendy Kong, Muriel Christensen, My Linh Mac, Nayeon Yang, Nini Kao, Priscilla Huang, Rialin José, Richard Gessert, Robert Apolinar, Saebom Yang, Sam Riesmeyer, Sierra Tuazon, Sophie Pokorny, Stafford Smith, Susie Xiong (InsomniaBird), Tshab Her, Vivian Le, and Yuqing Zhu.

Congratulations! This show is going to be amazing.

Everyone else, here’s the Facebook event page. (Notice something different? Apparently Facebook no longer allows you to create event names in all caps, even though that’s… my thing. See also: 2016’s LEXICON, and the URL for the Facebook event for 2012’s I CAN DO THAT somehow doesn’t work anymore but that was capitalized too, naturally. Anyway:) Invite yourself and your friends!

Call for Artists: SLAYSIAN

SLAYSIAN is a celebration—a celebrAsian, if you will—of local Asian American artists.

Artists on the Lam invites Asian American artists in Chicago and the larger Midwest area to submit work for this group exhibition, opening on Friday, March 20, 2020.

Created by artist and independent curator Jenny Lam, SLAYSIAN is the long-awaited follow-up to 2016’s acclaimed LEXICON, which featured 46 artists and was itself the successor to 2012’s acclaimed I CAN DO THAT, which was named the audience choice for “Best Art Exhibit” in the 20^th anniversary edition of NewCity’s Best of Chicago issue.

Local Asian American artists working in all mediums—painting, illustration, photography, sculpture, mixed media, multimedia, installation, textiles, you name it—are welcome to apply.

In addition to visual artists, SLAYSIAN also welcomes poets, writers, storytellers, performance artists, and performers of all types.

The art’s subject matter can be anything and everything. There isn’t necessarily a specific theme; this is above all a showcase of local contemporary Asian American talent. We inherently defy stereotypes and break boundaries simply by making art.

(In other words, this isn’t a show where the art needs to be about being Asian in America. Of course, if that’s what your art is about, then feel free to submit that!)

Eligibility:

1. You’re an Asian American artist. (It should go without saying, but this means all Asian ethnicities, including South Asian and Middle Eastern.)
2. You consider yourself a local artist. (Chicago, Chicagoland, Illinois, the Midwest, etc.) Folks outside of this area may apply too, but note that priority will be given to the Chicagoans and Midwesterners. Those of you who got your start here but have moved away are also welcome (we miss you!).

To apply:

Bloom

First, two updates:

I’ve been invited to speak on a panel about Asian representation in entertainment and media at Facebook Chicago for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! Save the date; the event is Wednesday, May 22, 4-6pm, at 191 N. Upper Wacker Drive. [5/15 edit: Whoops, was just told this isn’t open to the public.]

I got interviewed by Voyage Chicago! (Half a year ago, but the article was recently published, heh.) Take a look!

My story on Voyage Chicago.

Two reminders:

I have an upcoming art exhibit at the Bessie Coleman Branch of the Chicago Public Library in Woodlawn throughout May, also in celebration of AAPIHM!

Chicago Public Library's news about my AAPIHM exhibit 2019.

Midwest artists, today is your final day to submit to Line Dot’s 3rd Annual Juried Art Show! I’m one of the guest judges; I’d love to see your work. All the details for the open call are here.

And just because:

Here’s a lovely new mural by Ouizi in an alley in West Town, just in time for spring.

Mural by Ouizi, West Town, Chicago, 2019.

(This post has been quite the unceremonious non-transition from my previous posts which I wrote during the beginning of my annual Hong Kong trip for Art Basel, I know.)

Happy almost May!

On Air

I got interviewed by WBEZ about my exhibit at the Chicago Public Library branch in the Austin neighborhood for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! The interview will air this morning. Tune in! Thank you to Carrie Shepherd from WBEZ, and thank you to Keeshana Clark and everyone at the Austin branch, as well as Molly Kelly and CPL in general! Read more about the display here.

Me in front of my AAPIHM exhibit at the West Chicago
Avenue Branch of Chicago Public Library in Austin.
Photo by WBEZ's Carrie Shepherd.

And as announced in the previous post, Line Dot Editions has invited me to guest judge an open call group art show of theirs again! Here are the submission details for Hot Fun in the Summertime. Midwest artists, apply!

It’s Gonna Be

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (and what a gorgeous day it is in Chicago)! I’ve installed my AAPIHM exhibit at the West Chicago Avenue Branch of Chicago Public Library in the neighborhood of Austin! It’s a handful of photos I took on my phone while traveling along the Silk Road in Western China, and it’ll be on view throughout May. (Fitting that my own Journey to the West is chronicled in a westside community.) More information about the exhibit celebrating APAHM can be found here, and you can view the rest of the photos here and on Instagram. P.S. The security guard there’s a sweetheart and kept coming over to look at my art while I was installing and pointed out the places he wants to travel to (hint: the places in my photos.)

Chicago Public Library's news about my AAPIHM exhibit.

Another way to celebrate: Be sure to check out my ongoing series, ABC in HK, in which I interview Chinese Americans currently living in Hong Kong and amplify their stories, struggles, triumphs, and dreams. (And if you’d like to participate, email me! The call for voices is here.)

More news, including a couple announcements (one of which is an opportunity):

Midwest artists: Line Dot Editions is having another open call group show, Hot Fun in the Summertime, and I’ll be guest judging on their panel again! The application deadline will be June 2, the opening reception will be July 19, and the exhibition will close August 16. I’ll update once the gallery officially posts the call; stay tuned!

Thanks for asking me to shoot my portrait, Miguel Guzman! And for the pizza. And for putting up with how awkward I am in front of a camera. (I suffer from the affliction Resting Serious Face, the lesser known relative of Resting Bitch Face.)

I received a notification that someone left a comment in a 7-year-old post. Love it. Throwback to the early days of Artists on the Lam, when I was [more of] a shit-stirrer [than I am now] (ah, youth): “A Call for a Global Art History / It’s not all about you, dude”.

My “Kites in Uptown” photo is one of the winners for Block Club Chicago’s postcard contest! (Not bad considering I only posted about my nomination on social media once and not at all on this blog since I was traveling in Hong Kong at the time.) Thank you to all who voted and thank you, Block Club Chi! Some of those who backed their Kickstarter will be getting my photo in the mail.

My paternal grandma
in the Hong Kong Railway Museum in Tai Po.

Lastly: I went on my annual Hong Kong trip last month as a VIP at Art Basel, Art Central, and Asia Contemporary Art Show (and had a free spur-of-the-moment portrait taken there), and you can look through my photos (be sure to read the captions) here and here. My previous blog post chronicles my visit with self-taught artist Fung Ming Chip in his studio, one of many art highlights. Of course, my HK trips are never always about art; they’re about family. And snacks. And dogs. Lots and lots of adorable dogs. (I mean, why else would one travel?)

Wordplay: An Artist Studio Visit with Fung Ming Chip

A week ago while I was in Hong Kong, I spent a lovely morning visiting the Sai Ying Pun studio of self-taught artist Fung Ming Chip, whose work has been included in collections at the Met and LACMA.

Fung Ming Chip in his studio (also his and Yim Tom's
home) showing me and fellow Chicagoan Inez Suen
his calligraphic artwork.

Thank you again, Ming and Yim, for welcoming me into your home, for your hospitality (tea, food, hugs), and—Ming—for waking up hours before you normally do to meet me (he usually gets up after noon—hashtag artist life).

Ming deconstructs Chinese calligraphy and pushes the medium in directions I never thought possible. With all the layers and depth, his pieces are “unphotographable,” and that need to see them in person is kind of the distinction between East vs. West; there’s an intimacy with traditional Chinese art in general, and before you open a scroll you don’t know what you’re about to find—you’re in for a surprise each time.

Also… Ming doesn’t have a website or anything, so you really do have to see his work in person!

Ming is also a photographer and showed us Polaroids he took back in the day.

If you’d like to reach Ming, get in touch with Yim Tom. She’s the wonderful woman I met at the Art Basel VIP Private View—in the Collectors Lounge someone called my name and it was a Chicago friend, Inez Suen, and Inez was there with Yim—and was the one from whom I learned “about how British colonial rule deliberately suppressed the development of culture and national identity in Hong Kong” (one of my “truth bombs” in my caption for this photo of me on Instagram and Facebook). And she and Ming are married, and they’re the perfect pair.

Infinity Under a Roof

I’ve been chosen to exhibit my artwork at the Chicago Public Library during May in celebration of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! I’ll be exhibiting at the West Chicago Avenue Branch, serving the Austin, Lawndale, and North Lawndale neighborhoods. Thank you, CPL!

And speaking of AAPI heritage, a reminder: I have a call for voices (specifically, Chinese American expats in Hong Kong) in the previous post!

Call for Voices: ABC in HK

Calling all Chinese American expats in Hong Kong!

Me on Kowloon Peak / Fei Ngo Shan, Hong Kong, 2016. Photo by one of my
aunts (whose name, after joining our family, also happens to be Jenny Lam).

Are you a Chinese American (either an ABC—a.k.a. American-born Chinese—or Chinese who grew up in the US) currently living in Hong Kong? I want to hear from you!

I’m launching ABC in HK, a mini interview series featuring Chinese Americans who’ve returned to their roots / motherland, whether it’s for work or any other reason.

(I’m especially interested in hearing the voices of Chinese American artists in Hong Kong, but people of all occupations are welcome to answer this call, as I’m looking for a variety of perspectives.)

These interviews will be conducted via email and published online. (And possibly also as a little zine if I get enough contributions and if I get enough artists possibly also as a little group exhibition; the possibilities are endless!)

I’ll also put everyone I interview in touch with each other (if you want to opt out of this that’s fine too!) and build a community!

I want to amplify your stories, your struggles, your triumphs, your dreams.

If you’d like to participate, shoot me an email at artists.on.the.lam@gmail.com with “ABC in HK interview” as the subject.

Update 1: ABC in HK has officially launched! Read the first interview here, and check out the tag (as well as the Medium feed) to see all interviews.

Update 2: I’ve been getting emails asking if I’m still doing this, and the answer is yes! This is an ongoing project.

Jenny Lam is a self-taught artist, independent curator, and writer. She was born in Chicago to Hong Kong immigrants, and she graduated from Columbia University in New York City. Her site, Artists on the Lam, was named “Best Local Visual Arts Blog” in the Chicago Reader, and her group show, I CAN DO THAT, was named the audience choice for “Best Art Exhibit” in NewCity. Part of her ongoing large-scale interactive public art project, Dreams of a City, was selected to be exhibited in the Chicago Cultural Center, and an original story of hers exploring Asian American identity was published in New Frontiers, a graphic novel anthology.

On the Road

As you know, I helped judge the art submissions for Line Dot Editions’ Holiday Show, and it opens tonight (Friday), 6-9pm. Come! It’s free, all the exhibiting artists are Chicago- and/or Midwest-based, and all their work is fantastic.

When we spent an afternoon with a nomadic family on the Sangke Grassland,
Xiahe, Gansu, China.

And, as you can tell from… the fact that you’re reading this, I’m back(!) from Western China where my parents and I went on a Silk Road Tour. Actually, we returned a month and a half ago, and since then, I’ve been sharing a photo a day, every day, from our trip (which was only two weeks long—I took a lot of photos, OK?), and I’ve finally finished posting them. (Well, for now.) View ‘em (and their [sometimes sappy] accompanying captions and stories) all on Instagram and this Tumblr tag. (They’re also on Twitter and Facebook.) To the land of my ancestors, ‘til next time.

[Your Guide to Overcoming] Expo FOMO

Before I jump into this week’s festivities, here. Enjoy this photo of me being awkward at the Nasty Women Chicago Art Show in Stan Mansion. I sold my piece in it! Thank you to fellow artist Allen Vandever for buying my Safety Lights Are for Dudes drawing—100% of the sale goes to Planned Parenthood—and thank you to everyone who came!

The view from the rooftop of Ace Hotel Chicago
before attending an artist talk with Jaume Plensa.

And now: Welcome to Expo Art Week! As I said in this post, with Expo Chicago and the second edition of the Chicago Architecture Biennial, it’s one of my favorite times of the year to be an artist in my city. Below are my picks for what to see.

Here’s a quick video I took at the private preview of Luftwerk and NRDC’s collaboration White Wanderer: A Climate Change Soundtrack, featuring the sounds of melting icebergs. It’s art that’s so relevant right now. The installation’s located at 2 N. Riverside Plaza through October 1 and will also be at Expo Chicago.

The fall art gallery season has begun, and my highlight is Chris Silva’s mesmerizing solo exhibition at Linda Warren Projects. Open Source is on view through November 4.

The Chicago Biennial pop-up exhibition SOM: Engineering x [Art + Architecture], presented by Mana Contemporary Chicago and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, is on view next to Ace Hotel through January 7, 2018.

Expo Chicago’s off-site exhibition Palais de Tokyo: Singing Stones, at the DuSable Museum of African American History, is on view through October 29.

Standing, wine in hand, on a precarious wooden structure
at the VIP opening night.

Tonight I’ll be at the VIP Preview and Vernissage for Expo Chicago at Navy Pier (which will include a Soundsuit performance by Nick Cave and Jeanne Gang) and a VIP preview of a Biennial Special Project at the Garfield Park Conservatory. Follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

In anticipation of Expo (which opens to the public tomorrow), read my previous interviews with its affable Director and President, Tony Karman, from when we sat down and chatted before and after the fair’s inaugural and sophomore editions. I particularly love his career advice to young artists and arts professionals in our 2013 conversation.

I’m bummed that I’ll be missing the opening of the Biennial’s main exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center (I’ll be on a plane* during the preview), but—luckily—the Biennial runs through January 7, 2018, so there’ll be plenty of time to take it all in once I’m back.

*Tomorrow morning I’m flying out to Western China for a Silk Road Tour! The trip isn’t art-related so I probably (we’ll see) won’t be using a VPN like I did 5 years ago during my Beijing and Shanghai adventure (which is how I wrote “Midwesterner in the Middle Kingdom” back then), so I’ll likely be MIA online until the end of the month. See you then!

Until then, don’t forget: I have a call for artists!

And lastly: I’ve been featured on The T in STEM! Thank you!

--

[Pre-flight (and sleep-deprived) edits/updates because I want to share my happiness from last night with you:

Loved the VIP Preview of the Chicago Architecture Biennial’s L’air pour l’air performance by SO-IL and Ana Prvački at Garfield Park Conservatory so much. From their artist statement, it’s a call for “change through beauty.” Thank you for letting me experience this!

And THE BEST PART OF EXPO CHICAGO’S VERNISSAGE! I was entranced by [and whooped along with] Nick Cave’s Up Right Chicago Performance in Navy Pier’s Grand Ballroom. I’ve uploaded a million temporary (they’ll disappear around midnight, literally) videos to my Instagram stories (in the app, tap on my avatar).

Here’s a schedule of future performances and programming.]

Lines

I’m pleased to announce that I’ll be the guest judge for Line Dot Editions’ holiday show! The open call for artists (and more details) will go out next week, with all submissions to be received by October 1. The opening reception’s Friday, November 17, and the exhibition will run through the end of December. Thank you, Patrick Hull of Vertical Gallery!

As summer's end draws near, Flashback Friday to the summer solstice.

(I’ve updated the Exhibitions page, which has become a bit of a CV of sorts.)

Speaking of exhibitions, a reminder: I’ll have artwork in the Nasty Women Chicago Art Show next Friday, September 8, 5:30-10:30pm, at Stan Mansion. 100% of funds raised will be donated to Planned Parenthood Illinois Action.

While we’re on the subject of the Resistance: Thank you, Gloria “Gloe” Talamantes and Tempestt Hazel / Sixty Inches From Center for re-sharing my video with On The Real Film! Love you ladies.

While we’re on the subject of… film? Some of the things I said in the above episode? A PSA: Go see Birth of the Dragon; it stars my cousin Philip Ng as Bruce Lee! My parents went last weekend and were so amazed that he’s in a film that’s being shown in the US. Support Asians and Asian Americans in Hollywood movies, woo!

Tintype of me by Jen Jansen Photography. (Taken at this
event.) Also, I didn't realize this was a mirror image
until I noticed the placement of my moles.

Hope you all had a splendid August. My highlights, both personal and public, included: the solar eclipse, my birthday (thank you so much to everyone who came—my heart [and stomach] was so full—and thank you for all the birthday wishes), and the Floating Museum, which has since left the Chicago River (the linked photo) and is currently being installed at Navy Pier.

And with that: Happy September! With Expo Chicago and the Chicago Architecture Biennial coming up, it’s one of my favorite times of the year to be an artist in this city. Stay tuned for my previews!

(Art you can check out right now: I CAN DO THAT artist and birthday twin Nathan “Bam” Stanton is painting a mural at Harris Theater in Millennium Park! He’ll be there until 6pm today if you’d like to catch him in action.)

To Boldly Go

New Frontiers, the graphic novel anthology I have a story and artwork in, is officially going to press! Thank you again to the editors Jeff Yang and Keith Chow for the opportunity and for all your hard work putting this together!

L.A. friends: There will be a special event on July 15 at the Japanese American National Museum, where they’ll be formally unveiling the book! The Asian American ComiCon’s Summit on Art, Action, and the Future, 12-5pm.

Here. Have a Chicago photo as I transition to Chicago
things. (TBT to 2 weeks ago / my parents' anniversary.)

Sunday’s Dreams of a City postcard? The sender’s dream came true! Read her story here. More mapped Chicago dreams—posted daily—can be viewed here.

#Selfie

Sneak peek and first time drawing myself since I was a kid (although I painted myself a couple times like 10 years ago?): Here’s a quick sketch that’s part of my story in the upcoming graphic novel anthology New Frontiers.

Also adding this to my Scribble Sunday series
[even though it's Monday].

(Thank you to Asian American Millennials Unite—an organization that “spotlights the political power of the new generation of Asian America”—for all the related love on Twitter and Instagram! Apparently I’m “one of [their] favorite artists who’s not afraid to use [my] medium to push AAPI issues forward.” Shucks.)

When folks still ask you about a piece you wrote 5(!) years ago:

Thank you, Babu!

(P.S. The post is “Midwesterner in the Middle Kingdom // The Outsider” and just so happens to be what I based my New Frontiers story on!)

A reminder: If you haven’t yet, vote LEXICON for “Best Gallery Exhibit” in the Chicago Reader’s #BestOfChi! Voting ends today at 12pm CST! (Refer to the previous post if you have any difficulties viewing the ballot.) Thank you in advance, thank you to those who’ve already voted and spread the word, and thank you for nominating LEXICON in the first place!

Like, 1/8 of LEXICON.

And speaking of shows, a recommendation: Takashi Murakami’s The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg is now open at the Museum of Contemporary Art! (Pretty much all of Chicago was at the exhibit on the first public day and I ran into and met so many people and I loved it.) It’ll be up all summer, and admission is free for Illinois residents every Tuesday.

New Frontiers

An original story of mine (including artwork by me) will be published in New Frontiers, an original graphic novel anthology inspired by George Takei by the team behind the Asian American superhero anthology Secret Identities! Thank you so much to the editors, Jeff Yang and Keith Chow (founder of The Nerds of Color)!

Image courtesy of SIUniverse.

(Fun fact: When I was 16, I founded a free English tutoring program for immigrant youth in Chicago’s Chinatown called New Horizons. So I’d like to think this is fate.)

Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month indeed.

The back of Saturday’s daily Dreams of a City postcard has always been, on a purely visual level, one of my favorites. Thanks to Mary Iwanicki who helped leave this one. To read what was written on the front, visit @DreamsOfACity, where I’ve been sharing one mapped dream a day, every day. [Keep] follow[ing] along!

Postcard 1009 back: January 2013, Komoda (2559 W. Chicago).

And a reminder: If you haven’t done so already, I’d love it if you could take a couple minutes to nominate LEXICON for “Best Gallery Exhibit” in the Chicago Reader’s annual #BestOfChi poll! (More details and tips about the process in the previous post.) Thank you! [Update: Thanks to you, LEXICON is a finalist! Now, time to vote!]

Southern Song

I’m traveling to Hong Kong today! (Thank you to Art Basel, Art Central, and Asia Contemporary Art Show for inviting me to your VIP programs again!) You know what to do; follow along on Instagram and Twitter for live updates and photos.

Some of my phone photos from last year's Hong Kong trip.

As you also know, I’m usually on my own for my annual HK trip. This year, however, my mom’s tagging along so she can finally record an album there! She’s an amazing Cantonese opera singer, and I’m so happy she’ll finally be able to share one of her myriad gifts with the world. I’m also happy because this means double the food portions I usually order. Watch out, HK; we Lam ladies are gonna’ come eat all your dim sum.

My mom at the storefront her family owned
and lived behind and above
in Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

To tide you over ‘til I’m back: Part of my ongoing large-scale interactive mapping project is currently on view at the Chicago Cultural Center, selected by the City of Chicago as part of the “Year of Public Art” initiative for 2017. People back home, check out the exhibition if you haven’t yet and get the chance. And everyone everywhere, follow my Dreams of a City account, where I’m sharing one Chicago postcard a day, every day. (The last time I counted, there were 356. After my art-making event during the Open House a couple weeks ago, though? Expect even more!)

Holiday Drawing Commissions

I’m also grateful for all of you. Thank you.

Now, an announcement:

15-min. sketch of Shu Qi in The Assassin.

For the second holiday season in a row, I’m open for drawing commissions! New this time: I also have existing art—both from my represented artists and from myself (rare, I know!)—available for purchase!

You can:

1) Request custom drawings of anything you want! (For example, Robin Rios asked me to create a cartoon of her sculptures interacting, and this was the result.) $18 cartoon, $36 combination cartoon & realistic, and $63 realistic.

2) (New this year!) Buy any of my available* sketches from my Scribble Sunday series. *(The ones I exhibited at LEXICON have been sold, and the childhood art I’ve shared isn’t for sale.) The Good Dog and Summertime Sadness are $45, Of Dragons and Hero are $54, Ghostbuster is $81, Mood is $99, and each sketch in the Gossamer series is $198.

3) (New this year!) Buy art from the artists I represent! Check out the tags for Chicago painter Sheila Arora and Hong Kong photographer Valentina Loffredo, and look through their portfolios here and here, respectively.

For one and two, 30% of proceeds will be donated to the ACLU, Amnesty International, and NRDC. Fight beside me, and own some neat art while you’re at it!

Another quick sketch of Shu Qi in The Assassin.

(The rates are an explanation, of sorts, for this silly status.)