In Focus

Me last night with my piece, Petal, which I’d shot on my iPhone 5s in 2014, at the opening reception of the photography exhibition Click at The Art Center Highland Park:

Love that they hung my photo in this alcove right by the wine:

If you missed the event, the show runs through April 6. And if you’re lucky, you can also pick up a copy of my brand new zine in the Gift Shop! I dropped off five books and immediately it was down to four—thanks to artist Diane Ponder who bought one! Congratulations on being the first in-person customer of LAMINATOR Vol. 1!

Auld Lang Syne

Thank you to my alma mater Columbia University for featuring me again yesterday, this time in their Instagram stories! From when I was named one of 2023’s Culture Shifters by HuffPost:

Now, on to more sneak peeks at the artwork that will be in LAMINATOR Vol. 1 zine (pre-order the inaugural issue here!):

A dreamy photograph called Through the looking glass 4 by Klinta Kalneja in Riga, Latvia:

An incredible acrylic painting called The Streets Are Ours by Chicago artist Keelan McMorrow:

He says:

“As a painter, I’ve always tended to view my work as a sort of alchemy—from pigment to paint, concept to realization, there’s always some kind of transformation afoot. But the thing about painting a picture is that getting another person to look at it is pretty much the whole point, and that’s where the last bit of magic occurs. Whether or not someone else’s heart gets the message, their brain has gotten a piece of that I’ve been feeling, and if I’m lucky it’ll turn into something else, because it isn’t just mine anymore.”

Bonus: Keelan’s take on AI “artists”:

An opportunity for Chicagoans: DCASE’s 2024 Individual Artists Program Grant application is now open! I’m a past awardee; both times I applied, I was selected to receive the grant!: The first was for my ongoing large-scale interactive public art and mapping project, Dreams of a City*; the second was when I conceived of SLAYSIAN**. More details for IAP here. The deadline is January 16, 2024, 5pm CST.

*(Recent interviews about that passion project!: WGN Morning News (video, recorded live), WBEZ (audio, recorded live), Chicago Reader (article).)

**(The exhibition I created and curated celebrating Asian American artists in Chicago and the Midwest, which finally happened in person in 2021! You can continue to enjoy the original virtual version from 2020 here and read about SLAYSIAN in press coverage (including feature articles, reviews, and interviews with the artists and myself) from 2020 here.)

And some fun stuff as we close out 2023:

• When I was a kid I made these little mint candy snowmen from scratch (following a recipe from American Girl Magazine) and my mom still has them in the fridge and showed ‘em to me for the first time since [maybe] the ‘00s. And now I’m showing them to you.
• A silly little anniversary: This past fall marked 20(!) years of me having the same hair “style” / a middle part. I don’t have any photos of me from autumn 2003 on hand, so here’s a photo from summer 2004, along with some context for the location.
• An art-related anniversary: Throwback to 10(!) years ago when I was invited to curate the exhibition for Sixty Inches from Center x Autotelic’s birthday bash at what was then called Flats Studio, which was a massive old former bank building, and before that it was a former vaudeville theater, in Uptown. (Look up 1050 W. Wilson Ave.—that was the venue! And now it’s about to be the new home for Double Door.)

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, everyone!

We Were Seeds

Submissions for LAMINATOR Vol. 1 are now closed! Thank you so much to everyone who submitted to my new zine; I received applications from 200(!) artists, poets, and writers, the most I’ve ever gotten for anything! And my favorite part is how international this was; I have entries from so many different countries all around the world—truly living up to Artists on the Lam’s motto since 2011, “championing local artists; channeling global perspectives”.

Everyone will be notified whether they’ve been selected in… I originally said about a week or so (hopefully! it’s a lot more than I expected and I’ll try my best). Thanks in advance for your patience!

In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at one of the submissions; it’s a collage called O’ The Almighty Watermelon by Nalendra Ezra a.k.a. Ejura, an artist in Indonesia.

Sign up for pre-orders of the publication here!

Roar, Lion, Roar

Thank you so much to my alma mater for featuring me! I’m also in their “Alumni in the News” article—honored to be included alongside Emmy nominees et al. (And on their Instagram page two rows directly below me is Obama.)

Also, thank you all for the birthday wishes!

Lastly, this is the final week to see the group exhibition I’m in, Sweet Home Chicago! The show, which features 78(!) local artists, is up through this Friday, September 1, in the 4th Floor Gallery of the Bridgeport Art Center.

Culture Shift

I’ve been sitting on this news for months, but now that it’s been published, I’m giddy with excitement (and embarrassment?*) I can finally share with you that I’ve been named one of 2023’s Culture Shifters by HuffPost! *(I burst into laughter when I saw the headline.)

I’m so honored to be featured on a list alongside such creative change-makers. Endless thanks, love, and gratitude to:

• Reporter Yue Li, a graduate student at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism. Yue had reached out to me for “a profile story about an outstanding Chicago-based artist” and interviewed me all the way back in January (I remember we wished each other a Happy Chinese New Year!). She then pitched her story to the HuffPost culture team in March… and not only did their editorial team say yes, but the editor also said she’d love to include me as a Culture Shifter!

• Freelance photographer Taylor Glascock. Taylor took these photos of me in Chicago’s Chinatown on a brisk (to say the least!) but bright March afternoon. Everything I’m wearing in them I’ve had for at least 14 years (exception: my sneakers, which I’ve had for 7) (this is a pattern you’ll find with me and belongings)

• Senior editor of culture Erin Evans

• Senior photo editor Chris McGonigal

• Artist Nancy Bechtol, one of my Artists on the Lam, who was also interviewed for this piece and had such kind words to say about me

• Everyone who’s been a part of my journey. We don’t get here alone!

Read the interview here.

Humanities

Contributed to the #artvsartist challenge with closeups of some of my quick sketches! View my drawings (and more) in full here and here. Lensa who? AI what? All you need is a pencil and paper, baby.

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve been selected to exhibit my drawing Tree Hugger, which I made when I was in high school, in Light Space & Time Online Art Gallery’s 12th Annual Nature Art Exhibition! View the show here. Thank you, LST!

Artist opportunity: Chicago DCASE’s 2023 Individual Artists Program Grant application is now open! The deadline is January 10, 2023, 5pm. I’m a past recipient. Both times I applied, I was selected to receive the grant!: The first was for my interactive public art and mapping project, Dreams of a City*; the second was when I conceived of SLAYSIAN**. More details for IAP here.

*(Recent interviews about that passion project / labor of love!: WGN Morning News (video, recorded live), WBEZ (audio, recorded live), Chicago Reader (article).)

**(Which finally happened in person last year! You can continue to enjoy the original virtual version from 2020 here and read about SLAYSIAN in press coverage (including feature articles, reviews, and interviews with the artists and myself) from 2020 here.)

Can you believe this was a decade ago?: Throwback to December 2012 when I went to Miami for the first time and then wrote my now-classic blog post “Notes from [an] underground [art scene advocate / Miami Art Week virgin].” The middle paragraph of image 3 might be one of the funniest things I’ve written. Also, check out the tags I wrote (bottom of image 4). And the 5th image is the kind of comment I love receiving, and what makes it all worth it.

And speaking of older blog posts: Congratulations on winning the World Cup, Argentina! The last place my parents and I traveled to before the pandemic (remember when I lived up to the “globetrotting polyglot” descriptor in my bio?), and I miss it. I waxed wistful about it in the post “Alegría”; read about people, love, life, and getting stranded.

Happy and healthy holidays, everyone! Consider making a year-end gift to Artists on the Lam here. As always, I am so grateful for all of you.

Become a Patron

Support Artists on the Lam here

Since its founding in 2011, Artists on the Lam has been dedicated to championing local artists while channeling global perspectives (our motto!), making art accessible, breaking barriers, building community, inspiring people to see the world anew, and demonstrating that art is for everyone—all to acclaim.

Hailed by the press and the public as an “art wave-maker,” “a global arts mover and shaker,” “a pioneer of art that is interactive, collaborative, and as much fun for viewers as it is for artists,” and as an enterprise that “keeps Chicago’s arts and cultural scene fresh, engaging, and thriving” and “embodies everything that we, in the art world, need,” Artists on the Lam has spent the past 11.5 years cultivating a vibrant international community across 177 countries and counting, connecting artists and art lovers from all walks of life.

We’ve launched the careers of emerging artists and provided a prominent platform for emerging, mid-career, and established artists alike, whether it’s through the blog that started it all, which was voted “Best Local Visual Arts Blog” in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago issue by readers like you, or through groundbreaking—and rule-breaking—interactive art shows, such as the landmark exhibition I CAN DO THAT, which was voted the audience choice for “Best Art Exhibit” in the 20th anniversary edition of NewCity’s Best of Chicago issue by visitors like you.

From massive audience participatory shows like LEXICON, which was lauded by visitors as “wonderful training and exercise in the world of art appreciation,” to storied celebrations like SLAYSIAN, which South Side Weekly praised for its “role in educating and engaging with the broader Chicago community” and for “showcasing a subset of artists that have always been part of the city’s art scene, but rarely acknowledged as a collective,” at Artists on the Lam we’ve always prided ourselves in being at the forefront of art.

We’ve also always prided ourselves in being entirely independent and free.

If you’ve ever had fun at one of our events, connected with one of our artworks, enjoyed reading—or been oddly moved by—a post on the blog, found respite perusing a pandemic-era virtual exhibition, or would simply like to express your appreciation for the things we do, consider making a donation here! Your name will be included on a published list of patrons.

Your support goes towards

• Keeping the site (including the online art galleries of hundreds of talented artists) up and running;
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• Helping produce these events and allowing them to be the best they can be;
• Helping pay our assistants;
• And so much more.

In the past, Artists on the Lam has been awarded grants from the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and has received COVID-19 pandemic relief funds from The Soze Foundation’s Artist + Activist Relief Fund Grant, Chicago Artists Relief Fund, Secret Walls’ Support Your Local Artist Fund, and Propeller IMPACT Fund Grant.

Thank you endlessly for your generosity and for supporting artists and the arts!

FAQ

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Yes! To make your gift monthly, donate on PayPal here.

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Yes! You can browse the online shop, you can write about / feature Artists on the Lam in articles and interviews, you can utilize our services, you can attend our exhibitions (both in-person and virtual) where you can collect the original works of our talented artists (join the mailing list to keep up with when these events happen), and you can spread the word about all the things we do!

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Laureate

Last summer, a college student completed her undergraduate thesis about SLAYSIAN! I have her draft and it’s 26 pages all about the artists in the exhibition I curated! I’ve always talked about wanting to inspire others but when it actually happens I’m always surprised. So unbelievably honored.

 
(Here’s the online art show, March 2020-∞; here’s SLAYSIAN 2.0, the in-person exhibit, November 2021-January 2022; and here’s press coverage of the virtual exhibition, from 2020.)

And: The previous post has a massive roundup of updates; check it out if you missed it!

Rebel with a Cause

First, some personal art announcements and news:

I got interviewed by CanvasRebel! Read it here. Thank you for the opportunity to tell my story!

I’m happy to announce that I’ve been selected to publish my art in Bruxelles Art Vue’s Limitless Nature book! Here are my pages in the volume, featuring my 2015 photo Fall in Love and my 2017 photos Singing Sands, Danxia, and Binglingsi, all shot on my iPhone 5s (view more of my mobile photography here).

You can get a free digital copy here.

Thank you, Art Vue Foundation!

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A post shared by Jenny Lam (@artistsonthelam)

I’m also excited to share that I have an exhibit at 21c Museum Hotel Chicago: An activation / site-specific installation of my Dreams of a City project! Thank you to Museum Manager Juli Lowe and everyone at 21c for making this happen!

(For those of you who aren’t familiar with my labor of love: From 2008-2009 in Manhattan, and then from 2012-now in Chicago, I’ve been making thousands of pre-stamped self-addressed postcards, each with the prompt, “Tell me one thing you dream of doing before you die. Use this card as your canvas,” and each with a different code on the bottom. I’ve been leaving these postcards in public places all over the city, using the codes to record where I leave each one. So, when a card returns to me, I’m able to match its code with its location / am able to tell where each one was found, and have been gradually creating a map of the city from all your dreams. It’s a love letter to the city and a message of hope.

Watch, listen to, and read recent interviews about the project on WGN Morning News (live TV interview), WBEZ (live radio interview on Reset), and the Chicago Reader.)

And now, on to a visual recap of MdW Art Fair! (Photo-heavy, so if you’re navigating from the main page, continue reading after the jump.)

In the lobby of Mana Contemporary Chicago.

Still reigning supreme

Happy 10th anniversary to 2012’s I CAN DO THAT, the rule-breaking interactive group show featuring over 40 artists from around the world that I created and independently curated based on how a lot of people go up to contemporary art and say, “Well, I can do that,” or “my kid could do that.” So at the show I had the artists’ original art supplies in front of each piece, as well as blank canvases and other surfaces, and challenged people to see if they could, indeed, “do that,” or if they felt like they could improve a piece, they were able to directly paint or make any mark on that original work of art. It was glorious fun, and was eventually named audience choice for “Best Art Exhibit” in the 20th anniversary edition of NewCity’s Best of Chicago issue.

Opening night. Photo by Sophia Nahli Allison, 2012.

The closing reception was on this day 10 years ago!

Read more and view [many] more photos (76 total!) here.

Here’s to art, and to you!

P.S. On a completely unrelated note, my 2017 photo Singing Sands, shot on my iPhone 5s, is included in this NZ Herald article, “World’s Best Smartphone Photos Revealed”! And according to this piece, this year’s Mobile Photography Awards received over 5,000 entries, submitted from over 90 countries!

P.P.S. And for my highlights of recent art around town—such as my favorites from Expo Chicago’s in-person return, including this trippy sculpture—peep my Instagram.

Bounty

I’m so thankful for the community we’ve built and continue to build.

Selfies by participating artists Priscilla Huang and Robert Apolinar at the opening on Saturday (I definitely didn’t know where the lens on Robert’s phone was):

Something I’m proud of is curating group shows that turn out to be some of the artists’ first real gallery exhibition. (Reminder that for SLAYSIAN—like most of the other big group shows I curate—I put out an open call for artists, which I love doing because I get to “discover” so many talented people.) Sophie Pokorny is one of them:

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A post shared by ✨ sophie ✨ (@sjhp97)

And another piece that sold at the opening: Double Mother by Alex Belardo Kostiw. Congratulations, Alex! Unbeknownst to me, Kimberly Atwood of Elephant Room Gallery took a photo of me taking a photo of Alex’s piece:

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A post shared by Kimberly Leja Atwood (@kimlatwood)

Thank you, Kim!

Although SLAYSIAN 2.0 is physically on view until January 15, I’ve set up an online shop of the available works here, just in time for the holiday weekend. Collect art by 22 talented local Asian artists!

Early Thanks

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A post shared by Jenny Lam (@artistsonthelam)

(I make an appearance at the 0:10 mark)

Thank you thank you thank you! To everyone who came to the opening of SLAYSIAN 2.0 last night, to all the artists (I kept raving to everyone about how great of a group you are, and it’s been so fun to finally meet and talk to you in real life)!, and to the folks at Co-Prosperity Gallery for your support and for making this happen in person after two years and for trusting me / my vision! The vibes were perfect, the turnout was amazing (but the atmosphere was still chill), and it was nice knowing that everyone in the room was vaxxed. And I loved so many of your outfits! And I sold some art! (Congratulations to the artists and thank you to the collectors!) For those who weren’t/aren’t able to make it and want a piece, I’ll be setting up an online shop (like DECAHEDRON’s) for this show at the newer Artists on the Lam site soon, so stay tuned for that / bookmark it.

The show runs ‘til January 15. (Viewing days and hours here.) At some point before then we’ll have extra programming like artist talks and demos, so get excited for more opportunities to hang with this incredible exhibition!

If you took any photos or videos, email me at artists.on.the.lam {at} gmail.com or/and tag me on social media (I’m @artistsonthelam on Instagram and @TheJennyLam on Twitter and Facebook) and I might post yours! (I’ve already been sharing your Insta stories in mine; check ‘em out.)

Decked Out

It’s here! DECAHEDRON is now live!

June 2021 marks the 10th anniversary of Artists on the Lam. Celebrate with us!

It was a decade ago yesterday that I published my first post on what would later be voted “Best Arts Blog” in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago issue (read more about that in the previous post). As part of the celebration, I’ve curated an international exhibition (read more about this in the artist announcement post).

More about the curatorial process for this show that I didn’t mention in those posts: I’m likening it to an episodic TV series where you wander the land embarking on different adventures and meeting different characters, and then in the end you go back and revisit all your old friends and ask them to be part of your heist. Past, present, and future are all intertwined.

The result? 74 artists, with over 350 works of art.

View the exhibition at the following links: the main page and the artists page (click on each artist to enjoy their art and their words). Most of the pieces are available for purchase (and I was literally in the middle of formatting this post when a painting was already sold).

Celebrating 10 years of:

interaction; collaboration; making art as accessible as possible; proving that art is for everyone; championing local artists while channeling global perspectives; shenanigans; worldwide adventures; saying things everyone thinks but doesn’t say out loud; making messes; winging it; figuring it out; the same pair of sneakers; irreverence; puns; so many puns; open calls; giving emerging artists their first ever shows; refusing to use artspeak; not taking ourselves too seriously; troublemaking; optimism / earnestness / hope; leaving pretension at the door; getting people to actually look at the art; getting people to have fun with art and with each other; getting people to see the world anew; building relationships between artists and viewers; building relationships; building community; bringing people joy; a breath of fresh air; being able to touch the art; people coming into a gallery and not feeling intimidated; teaching; assuring people that they do, in fact, “get” art; showing that there’s nothing to “get”; invoking childlike wonder; connection, and not the schmoozing kind; making sure everyone feels welcome; rejecting cliques; breaking the rules; breaking barriers; bridging the spaces between us; standing out; not paying attention to trends; making our own; substance over style; quality over popularity; quantity; cramming an entire biennial’s worth of artists into one room; cramming as many viewers as possible into one room; helping visitors “hone their art appreciation skills”; giving visitors the “opportunity to explore their own interests and gain a better understanding of the kind of art they enjoy and why”; being worth the wait; being down-to-earth; showing there’s an abundance of culture in the Midwest; every medium you can think of; every art form you can think of; artists spanning the widest range of backgrounds, ages, and experience levels; talent; the best people you’ve never heard of yet; exploring and showcasing the underground; “shaking things up” / “rocking the art world” / “making waves”; changing the game; truly new experiences; being truly independent; perhaps being too DIY [but]; knowing no one is an island; using word of mouth; being unconventional; play; passion; constant growth; and art.

Again, thank you.

Here’s to the next 10 years!

(Pictured: A few photos from the opening reception of 2012’s acclaimed I CAN DO THAT, voted “Best Art Exhibit” in the 20th anniversary edition of NewCity’s Best of Chicago issue)

Leave a birthday message!

What’s your favorite Artists on the Lam memory? Perhaps you had a moment of transcendence at one of our interactive shows, or shared a spontaneous experience with a fellow visitor, or simply had fun. Perhaps a particular blog post moved you. Perhaps you’ve been inspired in some way. Your story could be featured on the site as part of the virtual celebration!

You can also send a photo, a doodle, or any other supplemental material. Email artists.on.the.lam {at} gmail {dot} com.