Ken Lum (Canadian, b. 1956) is a conceptual visual artist whose practice engages with themes of identity, immigration, language, mass culture and politics. Born in Vancouver to Chinese immigrant parents, the social scenarios depicted in Lum’s work are often derived from personal experiences— having observed or been subjected to racism, discrimination and prejudice within the context of urban life in a multicultural society. Lum’s hybrid portrait-logo series, featuring juxtapositions of text and images, are suggestive of racial and class-based tensions through the text-image relationship. The interplay between self and other is also present in Lum’s mirrored surfaces, reflecting the viewing subject and the broader social context in which the mirrors are situated. Lum’s practice incorporates photography, painting, sculpture and installation, including a number of high-profile public art commissions in Vancouver, Toronto, Vienna and Rotterdam. He has participated in major international exhibitions including Documenta 11 (2002) and the Whitney Biennial (2014). He has had solo exhibitions at the Vancouver Art Gallery (1990, 2011); Misa Shin Gallery, Tokyo (2011); Royale Projects, Los Angeles (2018) and Middleheim Museum, Antwerp (2021). Lum holds an MFA from UBC, an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University and is the current Chair of Fine Arts at the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania.