Return

Columbia University, Commencement 2009.

New York City, I’m coming back to you. Chicago, see you next week. (When I’m not attending my 5-year college reunion, I’ll be checking out as much art as I can. As with my Hong Kong trip, feel free to follow along on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.)

Some light reading:

• I and Dreams of a City were featured on Hyperallergic. Thanks, Hyper! (Update to what I said in the article: I do have a smartphone now. Important, I know.)

• For my Art Basel highlights, Hong Kong trip roundup, and more about my family’s history, be sure to read the previous post, “Pearl.”

Manhattanhenge tonight!

Pearl

You know you’ve just flown in from Hong Kong when it’s 85ºF and it feels nice and cool.

Chicago, I’m home for a week. Then it’s off to New York. Using this time to visit my parents, power through jet lag, and catch up on things from the past couple weeks, e.g., watch the Interstellar trailer ten times in a row, half of which I pretend it’s a sequel to Contact.

Victoria Harbour as seen from Art Basel Hong Kong 2014.

  

My highlights from the second annual Art Basel Hong Kong, as well as other photos I took throughout my trip, can be viewed here on Instagram.

Rebecca Baumann, Automated Colour Field,
Art Basel Hong Kong 2014.

Hong Kong, of course, was and is so much more than Basel. This is, after all, where my roots lie.

Hong Kong, the city that gives new meaning to the phrase
"urban jungle."

My family’s history mirrors that of Hong Kong: My grandparents were refugees from the Mainland, escaping the Communists in 1949. When their squatter hut burned down in the shantytown fire of 1953, which left over 50,000 people homeless, they resettled in the Shek Kip Mei public housing projects, Hong Kong’s first public housing estate and where my dad and his three younger brothers were born and raised (I wrote about what life was like there in this post). My dad—while still a kid from the hood—got into and graduated from the University of Hong Kong (and later immigrated to the United States and earned a master’s at the University of Chicago). And now the sole American-born child of the Lam clan, with a not-bad track record of her own, receives invitations to return to her motherland every year and attend the world’s premier Modern and contemporary art event as a VIP. Cue “Circle of Life.” (And me holding up this puppy to an enraptured audience of Serengeti animals?)

Spent my last full day in Hong Kong relaxing here, by the sea,
with my grandma. What a long way the Lamily has come.

Whether it’s visiting the Mei Ho House, the last remaining—and newly “revitalized”—building of the Shek Kip Mei slums (I asked my uncles to bring the only photos they have from their childhood for comparisons); or imbibing free bottomless booze at a sweaty party in a parking garage in the industrial district of Chai Wan on the outskirts of the city with friends old and new while dancing to a live Chinese rock band (whose female lead singer, who wore Pink Floyd tights, we gave sips from a bottle of vodka we may or may not have taken from the bar) and, before that, watching dancers follow a set of instructions that included, among many other things, screaming audience members’ names, hiding in boxes, doing a routine to a Rihanna and Beyoncé medley, and fisting themselves in their mouths; or looking at art…

I love this place. 

Have a great week, everyone.

That Time of Year

Bye, Chicago.

 

Been here a hundred times. Never gets old.

Hi, Hong Kong!

Neither does this.

I’ll be sharing photos on Instagram as well as updating Twitter and Facebook. Follow along!

In the meantime, if you’re around Batavia, Illinois, check out the exhibition I juried at Water Street Studios.

Chicago, I’ll be back in a few weeks. Albeit briefly. Then it’s off to New York!

Forever Golden

Brooks Golden in front of his mural on 16th & Paulina.
(Photo via Brooks' Facebook.)

Rest in peace, Brooks. The Chicago art community truly was and is golden thanks to you.

(More after the jump.)

Dig Yourself

“This show is creepy.” –apparently said by a troop of Boy Scouts who toured the exhibition I juried.

Photo by Brian DeWolf.

Thanks to everyone who came to the opening reception of Water Street Studios’ spring show Friday night, and thanks to WSS for inviting me to be the guest juror and for so readily welcoming me into their family! I had so much fun.

Photo by Brian DeWolf.

The Beacon-News did a write-up, and I’ve added the link to the Press page.

Photo by Brian DeWolf.

WSS’ site has a few more photos of the exhibition (and here’s a candid of me listening to my introduction before I announced the Honorable Mentions and Best of Show), which runs through June 28—plenty of time to go see it if you missed the opening!

The world is a vampire

As you may recall from earlier posts, I was invited to be the guest juror for Water Street Studios’ spring show, which opens April 11. Sunday was the jury date, and I was told this was the most entries WSS has ever received for an exhibition; 100 artists submitted about 4 works each. (Thanks, artists, for letting me look at your art; and thanks, WSS, for the opportunity!) Here’s one of them:

You can see this piece—and dozens more—in person in a couple weeks, Chicagolanders!

Another free upcoming event:

• Do this, New Yorkers! 50 professors are giving free lectures in bars throughout the city on April 29. Knowledge and booze. Two of my favorite things. (Speaking of New York, I’ll be there the last weekend of May, and although my schedule is already filling up, if you know of anything a bit under the radar that you think I should check out during that time, tell me!)

Things to keep an eye on:

• Remember the last exhibition I curated? It was at a fundraiser for Sixty Inches From Center and Autotelic, and I recently got a sneak peek of the latter organization’s brand new space. Let’s hear it for artist studios!

• I also got to preview my friend Chyanne Husar’s chiNAgo (how great is that portmanteau?), an ambitious project that explores cultural gains and losses in rapidly developing societies.

And some important announcements about this particular artist on the lam:

• You can now follow me on Instagram—a service I’ve bashed before—and Hell has frozen over. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I, Jenny Lam, the young dinosaur, am finally the owner of a smartphone. Feels weird joining you all in the 21^st Century. But don’t worry; I’ll continue doing what I’ve always been doing: sitting and staring into space [oftentimes directly into a stranger’s eyes] while organizing my thoughts. Also, getting horrifically lost. (A reminder: You can follow me on other social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook—recent updates of which have mostly been about my first friend wedding, the end of True Detective / beginning of Cosmos / Bill Nye the Science Guy / yeah I have always embodied every stereotype of a nerd you can think of / etc.—and more.)

• That awkward moment when the guy in charge of sending your college class quarterly updates about your peers mistakenly includes a four-month-old automated out-of-office message of yours as an update about you. (I’d like to think that at least this little community inadvertently received some free promotion because of it, but instead of just, you know, copying and pasting my vacation responder, he edited / re-typed it and misspelled this site’s URL. …CU ’09 is quite the class.) But if you’re a Columbian who read that note and somehow made it here anyway, welcome / well done.

• Last but not least: I’ve updated the “About” page with some quotes. (Scroll past the “Best of” images.)

Happy end of Smarch!

He[art]

“For the poor, the arts are a path to opportunity.” Props to Americans for the Arts’ Robert L. Lynch and actor / director Robert Redford for writing this letter, which was in response to a recent study revealing that federally funded arts programs benefit people of all income levels. (And yesterday, in related news, President Obama finally named his pick for the head of the National Endowment for the Arts.) Art’s importance cannot be stressed enough.

So tell me. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day…

Penny Byrne's Love Is a Battlefield
at the inaugural Art Basel Hong Kong.

Why do you love art? And what do you love most about art?

(P.S. De La Soul is making their entire catalog available for free download today at 11am EST until tomorrow at noon. Edit: And Gargoyles, my second favorite animated TV show as a kid—after Batman: TAS—is streaming legally on YouTube. Happy Friday!)

Of the Horse

Hello from the other side of 2014! (Me, late to wishing you a happy new year? Never!) First, a couple opportunities and calls for artists and designers:

• My good friend Caitlin Bergh is starting a company and needs a graffiti-inspired logo that says “CEB.” You can contact her here. [Update: Caitlin has made her decision. Thanks for all the submissions!]

• As mentioned in the previous post, I’ve been invited to be the guest juror for Water Street Studios’ spring show. It’s an open group exhibition, so submit and let me judge your work.

And a couple personal art updates:

Photo by Kim Koin.

• Last month, I charged into the new year with a series of visiting artist workshops at the Chicago Children’s Museum. Here are some photos from the last session. Thanks, CCM! I had a blast.

• Also, thanks to the artblog for the plug in a news post! I’ve updated the Press page accordingly.

Fellow Chiberians and winter warriors elsewhere, be warm and well! Everyone else, I grant you permission to gloat.

2013 Greatest Hits

Photo by Jessica Pierotti.

Ah, 2014 cometh. There’s already much to look forward to:

• I’ve just been invited to be the guest juror for Water Street Studios’ spring show, opening April 11. Thanks, Steven Lockwood!

• I’ve also received a VIP invite to the second edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, happening in May. (Here’s my recap of the inaugural fair.) And right after Hong Kong, I’ll be in New York City for my 5-year college reunion (holy shit).

• But before all that: My visiting artist workshops at the Chicago Children’s Museum are this Saturday and Sunday and next Thursday. Chicagoans, bring your kids to Navy Pier and let me be a bad influence on them. I mean, yeah. (I’ll also be showing them the weird stuff I drew when I was around their age.) A fun way to kick off the new year.

Opportunities:

• Artists: The CTA is seeking art for Blue Line stations. Apply! Submissions are due January 6.

• Illinois residents: The Art Institute of Chicago will be free every weekday from January 6 through February 12! Warm up this winter with art.

Photos from my last two adventures of 2013:

• Sixty Inches From Center and Autotelic’s birthday bash (photos by Claire Demos and Jessica Pierotti).

• My highlights from Art Basel Miami Beach and the rest of Miami Art Week (including parallel fairs, concurrent exhibitions, and public art throughout Miami) on Facebook and Flickr.

And now for the year in review. Here are your top 10 most read posts of 2013:

Agora

From laughing with friends during egregiously inappropriate moments to selling four artists’ works* to emerging, past one in the morning, onto the craziest roof after climbing up three ladders through the craziest attic with a bunch of crazy people (I love you all), Saturday night was amazing. Thank you, everyone.

*(James T. Green’s Post-Black animated GIF, Robin Rios’ Quiet aluminum print, several pieces from English Prevo’s Agora series, and Jessie Winslow’s Untitled mixed media photo collage.)

Party photos forthcoming.

English Prevo.

An excerpt from (and an addendum to) last month’s “King of Kowloon” post got published in Rad Brown Dads, which is pretty rad itself.

Event to attend: New Yorkers, go to this celebration hosted by my friends Stephanie Lindquist, Courteney Ervin, and Glendalys Medina. Learn about different ways to expand your creativity.

Events to find me at: I’ve just received VIP invitations to PULSE and UNTITLED, both of which I loved last year (you can find out why in one of the most read posts of 2012). I’ll be there, as well as the Art Basel Miami Beach VIP Vernissage and everything else I scored free passes to (that’s the way to do it).

Americans, enjoy your Thanksgiving weekend! Everyone else, stuff your faces anyway!

Forward

Sixty Inches From Center and Autotelic’s birthday bash—with an exhibition curated by yours truly—is tonight! I just finished installing the art last night, and, you guys, the show looks so. good. So good. Can’t wait for you all to see it!

A teaser.

Chicago, come party with us. There will be cake. And cocktails. And tamales. And performances. And games. And raffle prizes. And tarot readings. And cake.

And tamales.

After the jump, peep a few installation shots I’ve taken over the past week:

A Gut Punch of a Buff

It looks like demolition of 5 Pointz really is happening; the graffiti mecca has been whitewashed.

Photo by Ian Kwok, 2007. When I used to look like a spy, apparently.

Sigh. This was one of my favorite spots in New York. Here are some photos I took in 2007. (You can also watch the Flickr slideshow below.)

Uptown Pearls

Curating a show, in a space like this, within one month (slash two weeks since I just finalized the list of artists and the opening’s on the 23^rd)? Challenge accepted.

Photo by Heather Fritz.

(In case you didn’t see the update in the previous post, the building used to house a bank, and, according to Uptown-er and excellent local history source Jeffrey Littleton, it was originally a vaudeville theater. What a place for an art exhibition.)

[And an update for this post: Take a look at the first art installed. Jason Hawk is the man.]

And for the ultimate “Throwback Thursday”: Wrote this when I was 5.

King of Kowloon

First, two things:

I’ve been invited to guest curate a show for Sixty Inches From Center’s birthday party at Autotelic {Studios} on November 23. Thanks to Tempestt Hazel for the opportunity! [10/31 edit: Now at Flats Studio / a massive old bank building. Like, there’s a vault and everything. Here’s a photo of the space. And, according to Tempestt, I have unlimited power over it. Get excited / be afraid.]

It’s 4Art Gallery’s 10^th anniversary. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Robin Rios, the gallery’s owner and my dear friend and mentor. (This post—one of this blog’s first!—includes a photo from Somnambulist, the wall-less exhibition I curated with her back in the day.) Show Robin some love! Check out the two exhibitions she’s curated this month at the Zhou B Art Center: Centerline on the building’s main and second floors and Shattered Mirror in 4Art on the fourth floor.

Now, on to what prompted me to post today:

Mei Ho House before renovation, 2009.
(Photo via ARTINFO Hong Kong.)

My heart spun when I saw today’s news from ARTINFO Hong Kong, with the headline “Defunct Housing Block for Homeless Now a Museum” and the above photo. This is where my dad was born and raised, where he spent his entire childhood. This is Shek Kip Mei.

(If you haven’t looked through the photo albums from my most recent Hong Kong trip: My dad and his brothers grew up in the Shek Kip Mei public housing projects, a resettlement estate that was essentially a slum. Multiple families were crammed into concrete units 120 sq. ft. in size. The only window in each unit looked out onto a narrow outdoor corridor, which ran along the exterior of a 7-story-tall H-shaped building. Bathrooms were communal; tenants bathed with small pails. Kitchens were nonexistent; tenants cooked in the corridors.)

As a little boy, my dad saw it all here. Teens snorting coke in the stairwells. People jumping to their deaths from the balconies. Gang members disemboweling each other in the courtyards below. The cops—who were white and British—rolling in (that’s when you knew shit got real). Gang members teaching each other Confucius’ Analects. People waking early to hawk wares on the streets. Kids crowding into the one unit that had a TV. My dad, three years old, watching a neighbor play the erhu and trying to emulate him with a pair of chopsticks. On those hot and humid summer nights, residents brought their cots outside and slept on the corridors. No one locked their doors (“What’s there to steal?”), and everyone looked out for each other. “Life was tough and people were poor,” my dad once said to me, “But happy.”

My dad as a 15-year-old BAMF / Boy Scout.

I don’t know how I feel about this “revitalization project” just yet. I do know, however, that visiting this place will be a top priority when I go on my annual Hong Kong trip in May.

For Art Basel.

Can Aubrey Canada Dry Graham Drake surrender “Started from the Bottom” to my family ‘cause like…

On the Streets

Lower East Side. (Photo via Banksy's site.)

Probably my favorite piece from Banksy’s Better Out Than In residency so far. [Sunday edit: New favorite.] New Yorkers, you can find this on Ludlow between Stanton and Rivington in the LES (a.k.a. one of the neighborhoods that tried my terrible sense of direction when I ran around Manhattan with my then-untitled mapping project / numbered streets are my friends / speaking of which…)

This January, I’ll be collaborating with the Chicago Children’s Museum and doing a series of visiting artist workshops related to Dreams of a City. I always love seeing kids’ responses. Thanks to CCM for contacting me!

But before that:

• Tonight: As previously announced, I’ve been invited to be a committee member and special guest at Meet Your Maker: Connecting Chicago Creatives, an official Chicago Artists Month event, happening at the Fulton Street Collective (where I curated Exquisite Corpse!). Come. Network.

• Tomorrow: Visit the South Side Community Art Center for the opening reception of Recess, a group exhibition curated by my friend and the co-founder of Sixty Inches From Center, the inimitable Tempestt Hazel. There will also be an art walk in Pilsen, which continues Saturday.

• Next Saturday: My incredibly inspirational friend Sophia Nahli Allison, who photographed the opening night of I CAN DO THAT (and whose texts to me during Breaking Bad I’ll miss almost as much as the show itself (raise your hand if you, too, weren’t sure whether to give a standing ovation or ugly-cry because it’s over (I did both))), will be on the panel for “Manual of Violence.” It will also be the Chicago Architecture Foundation’s Open House Chicago, which continues the following day.

In the previous post, I previewed Expo Chicago and interviewed its director. My photos from the fair, the Chicago debut of Fountain, the inaugural EDITION Chicago, and other Expo Art Week events can be viewed on Flickr and Facebook. 

I’ll leave you with some notable quotes.

“Five hundred?”

“You want how many stamps?”

“That’s a lot of stamps…”

(Or any other variation of the above.)

—Any given postal worker, to me, every other week.

EXPO CHICAGO 2013 // An Interview with Tony Karman

Expo Chicago 2012 Vernissage.
(Image courtesy of Carol Fox and Associates Public Relations.)

Art lovers, clear your schedules. This week, Expo Chicago, the International Exposition of Contemporary and Modern Art, is back for its second year. Art from 125 premier galleries will grace Navy Pier’s Festival Hall, transformed once again by Jeanne Gang and Studio Gang Architects into an engaging interior environment. Also returning to Expo are EXPOSURE, a platform for emerging galleries; IN/SITU, a showcase of large-scale installations and performative works; the culmination of  /Dialogues, a roster of discussion panels featuring leaders in the art field; and a VIP Program.

New this year are Expo Video, a section for cutting-edge film and new media, and Expo Art Week, an ambitious, city-wide celebration of Chicago’s rich cultural landscape. Highlights of Expo Art Week include museum exhibitions and gallery openings; public art projects; music, theater, and dance performances; special dining experiences, and more. Shuttles will be available to take visitors from Navy Pier to the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the River North and West Loop gallery districts.

As if that weren’t enough to sate your art and culture appetites, there will also be two new satellite fairs: the inaugural EDITION Chicago at Chicago Artists Coalition in the West Loop; and the Chicago debut of the alternative-minded Fountain Art Fair at Mana Contemporary in Pilsen.

What sophomore slump?

I sat down and chatted with Expo’s President and Director, Tony Karman, for a preview. (He also shared his opinion on the rise of the mega-fair, gave [actually good] career advice to young artists and arts professionals, and talked about his favorite things to do in his [rare] spare time, which may or may not involve having a beer at the Hideout.) Continue reading below.

Sun in Leo

How much you impress people is inversely proportional to your time spent on this planet. (Last day being 25 = Deleting my age from my bio everywhere.)

I met with a Dreams of a City assistant a couple days ago and she showed me this gorgeous mural she helped design. Still in progress, much of it is being created by local teens hired by Green Star Movement through After School Matters. Very inspiring.

Underpass at Hiawatha and Kinzua, Edgebrook.

And more art for Chicagoans to be excited about: In September 2014, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (which is free every Tuesday!) will be the U.S. venue for the world tour of the David Bowie is exhibition. (That gives me about 13 months to fix my broken Aladdin Sane bottle cap necklace.)

Have a wonderful weekend!