Karen Tam (born 1977) is a Canadian artist and
curator
A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...
who focuses on the constructions and imaginations of cultures and communities through installations in which she recreates Chinese restaurants, karaoke lounges, opium dens, curio shops and other sites of cultural encounters. She is based in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
.
Education
Tam holds a BFA in Studio Arts and Music from
Concordia University and an MFA in Sculpture from the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which grew into the museum and ...
and a PhD in Cultural Studies from
Goldsmiths (University of London).
Exhibitions
Tam's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries such as the
Ormeau Baths Gallery (Belfast),
Irish Museum of Modern Art
The Irish Museum of Modern Art ( ga, Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann) also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. Located in Kilmainham, Dublin, the Museum pr ...
(Dublin), Betty Rymers Gallery and 11th Street Gallery/Columbia College (Chicago), Foster-Tanner Gallery (Tallahassee, Florida), YVZ Artists' Outlet (Toronto), Khyber Centre for the Arts (Halifax), and MAI -
Montréal arts interculturels (Montreal).
Awards
Karen Tam's video ''Plum Sauce'' won the Audience Choice Award at the 2002 Asian American Film Festival in Chicago. She was a finalist for the Prix Louis-Comtois in 2017 from the Contemporary Art Galleries Association and the Ville de Montréal, a finalist for the Prix en art actuel from the
Musée national des beaux-arts de Québec in 2016, and long-listed for the
Sobey Art Award The Sobey Art Award is Canada's largest prize for young Canadian artists. It is named after Canadian businessperson and art collector Frank H. Sobey, who established The Sobey Art Foundation. It is an annual prize given to an artist 40 and under wh ...
in 2010 and 2016. She was awarded the 2021 Giverny Capital Prize by collector
François Rochon, president of the private portfolio management firm Giverny Capital. She was also long-listed for the 2010 and 2016 Sobey Art Award.
List of major exhibitions
Selected solo exhibitions
*''Swallowing Mountains'' (February - August 2023),
McCord Stewart Museum.
*''Karen Tam: With Wings Like Clouds Hung from the Sky 大鵬就振翼'' (February - April 2022),
Varley Art Gallery
Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery, or the Varley Art Gallery of Markham, is an art museum in Markham, Ontario, Canada. The museum is situated in a building on Main Street Unionville. The gallery was named after Frederick Varley, an artist from ...
(Markham, ON) (Curated by Anik Glaude)
*''Les illusions sont réelles'' (February 19 - April 24, 2022), Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec Manif d'art 10, La Bienale de Québec (Curated by Steven Matijcio)
*Autumn Tigers (Online) (October 2021 - Ongoing),
Art Canada Institute
Art Canada Institute is a bilingual, non-profit research organization based out of Massey College, at the University of Toronto. Through a variety of programs, such as the Massey Art Lecture Series and the Canadian Online Art Book Project, the Ins ...
in partnership with Campbell River Art Gallery (Curated by Jenelle M. Pasiechnik)
*''the chrysanthemum has opened twelve times'' (January 2020),
Koffler Centre of the Arts
The Koffler Centre of the Arts is a broad-based cultural institution established in 1977 by Murray and Marvelle Koffler and based at Artscape Youngplace in the West Queen West area of downtown Toronto, Ontario.
History
Established in 1977 as part ...
(Toronto, Canada)
*''with wings like clouds hung from the sky'' (May 2019), Richmond Art Gallery (Richmond, BC, Canada)
* (Travelling Exhibition) ''Nous sommes tous les brigands/We Are All Robbers, EXPRESSION (2017-2019),'' Centre d’exposition de Saint-Hyacinthe (Saint-Hyacinthe, Canada); Musées Régionale de Rimouski, (Rimouski, Canada); Musées des beaux-arts de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, Canada); Plein sud, centre en art actuel de Longueuil (Longueuil, Canada)
* ''Souvenirs from the Jasmine Café, SIGHTINGS'' (2017), Leonard & Bina Ellen Gallery,
Concordia University (Montréal, Canada)
* ''SHEEN-wah-ZREE (2016)'', Musée d’art contemporain des Laurentides (Saint-Jérôme, Canada)
* ''Des mimes et des mites'' (2016), Conseil des arts de Montréal (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Silk Road: Storm-Detectors, Blood-Sweating Horses, & Constellations (2016),'' Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Terra dos Chinês Curio Shop'' (2016),
Articule (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Made in Britain'' (2015), Galerie Hugues Charbonneau (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Terra dos Chinês Curio Shop'' (2015), Artspace Peterborough (Peterborough, Canada)
* ''Sinography'' (2013), QueenSpecific (Toronto, Canada) (Curators: Stefan Hancherow and Jen Simaitis)
* ''Opium Den'' (2011), Robert Langen Gallery,
Wilfrid Laurier University
Wilfrid Laurier University (commonly referred to as WLU or simply Laurier) is a public university in Ontario, Canada, with campuses in Waterloo, Brantford and Milton. The newer Brantford and Milton campuses are not considered satellite campuses ...
(Waterloo, Canada)
* ''Pagoda Pads'',
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) is an art museum located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Situated in Rockland, Victoria, the museum occupies a building complex; made up of the Spencer Mansion, and the Exhibition Galleries. The ...
(Victoria, Canada) (Curator: Lisa Baldissera)
* (Traveling exhibition) ''Gold Mountain Restaurant: No MSG At Friendship Dinner (Or Cats) (2006-08).''
Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba; ''Shangri-la Café:'' YYZ Artists’ Outlet (Toronto); ''Old Silver Moon: Forest'' City Gallery (London, ON); ''House of Wong: Artcite'' (Windsor); ''On Rock Garden'': AKA Gallery (Saskatoon); ''Orientally Yours'',
Southern Alberta Art Gallery
The Southern Alberta Art Gallery Maansiksikaitsitapiitsinikssin is a contemporary art gallery located in downtown Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. It has three gallery spaces and a gift shop.
History
In 1974, local residents formed the Southern Alber ...
(Lethbridge, Canada)
* ''Gold Mountain Restaurant Montagne d’Or'' (2004), Montréal, arts interculturels (MAI) (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Real-Life Heroes Who Make A Difference'' (2004),
Irish Museum of Modern Art
The Irish Museum of Modern Art ( ga, Áras Nua-Ealaíne na hÉireann) also known as IMMA, is Ireland's leading national institution for the collection and presentation of modern and contemporary art. Located in Kilmainham, Dublin, the Museum pr ...
(Dublin, Ireland)
Selected group exhibitions
* ''Secret Chord : An Ode to Montreal (2023)''
* ''Le je et le nous — The I and the We, (2019)'' MAI (
Montréal, arts interculturels) (Montréal, Canada) (Curator: Zoë Chan)
* ''Connections and Reconnections'' (2018-2019),
Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Ici Londres/London Calling (2018-2019)'',
Musée de la civilisation
The Musée de la civilisation, often directly translated in English-language media outside Quebec as the Museum of Civilization, is a museum located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It is situated in the historic Old Quebec area near the Saint La ...
(Québec City, Canada)
* ''Here/Elsewhere: The Sample of Overseas Chinese Art'' (2018),
He Xiangning Art Museum
He Xiangning Art Museum () is an art museum in Nanshan, Shenzhen, China.
Construction of the museum started in 1995 and was opened in 1997. The museum is named after He Xiangning, former leading person in the Revolutionary Committee of the KMT ...
(Shenzhen, China) (Curator:
Wang Huangsheng)
* ''mmmmm…Gendai Kitchen (2017)'', Gendai Gallery (Toronto, Canada)
* ''Far and Near: the Distance(s) between Us,'' Art Museum/
Justina M. Barnicke Gallery,
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
(Toronto, Canada) (Curator: Henry Lu)
* ''Power Ball XVIII: Pleasure Principle'' (2016), Power Plant Toronto, Canada)
* ''Tracing Asian Canadian Art Histories and Aesthetic Alliances'' (2015),
Artexte (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Convoluted Beauty: In the Company of Emily Carr (2014)'', The Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon, Canada) (Curator: Lisa Baldissera)
* ''Couriers of Taste (2013)'',
Danson House
Danson House is a Palladian mansion and a Grade I listed building at the centre of Danson Park, in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, south-east London.
History The Danson Estates before Danson House
The earliest reference to the Danson Es ...
(Bexley, UK) (Curators: Day+Gluckman)
* ''Sinopticon: Contemporary Chinoiserie'' (2012-2014),
Victoria & Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
(London, UK),
Plymouth Arts Centre
Plymouth Arts Cinema is an independent cinema based at Plymouth College of Art. It screens new independent cinema from all around the world, classic films, along with festivals, special events, and Open Air Cinema.
Plymouth Arts Centre was a cent ...
, Saltram House National Trust,
Plymouth City Museum & Art Gallery
The Box is a museum, gallery and archive in Plymouth, Devon, England, opened in 2020 housing a collection of about 2 million items. The core of the building was previously Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery which closed in 2016. The building w ...
(Plymouth, UK) (Curator: Eliza Gluckman)
* ''Location/Dislocation'' ''(2011),'' J.M. Barnicke Gallery/Jackman Humanities Institute, University of Toronto
* ''East Goes East'' (2011), Third Space/Tiers Espace (Saint John, Canada) (Curator: Chris Lloyd)
* ''BGL/Pascal Grandmaison/Adad Hannah/Karen Tam'' (2010),
Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal
* ''Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée'',
Musée d’art contemporain (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Rearranging Desires'', FOFA Gallery,
Concordia University (Montréal, Canada)
* ''Redress Express'',
Centre A (Vancouver, Canada) (Curator:
Alice Ming Wai Jim)
Selected curatorial works
* ''Whose Chinatown?'' (2021), Griffins Art Project (Vancouver, BC)
Publications
* Luke, Suzanne and Finn, Jonathan and Kuruvilla, Sunil. ''Karen Tam : Pagoda Pads : Opium Den.''Waterloo, Ont.: Robert Langen Art Gallery, 2011.
* Belu, Françoise and Blouin, Marcel and Lee, Day. ''Gold Mountain Restaurant = Restaurant Montagne d'or : Karen Tam.'' Montréal, Qc: MAI (Montréal arts interculturels), 2006.
* Jim, Alice Ming Wai Nolte, Victoria Zhang, Tianmo Harringa, Charissa Von Larose, Delphine Joachim, Joana Harkness, Tamara Lakhrissi, Tarek Montpetit, Gabrielle Colombo, Cindy Wexler, Samamtha (2015). ''EAHR @ Artexte : Uncovering Asian Canadian and Black Canadian Artistic Production''. Ethnocultural Art Histories Research Group (EAHR). .
* Baldissera, Lisa and Despret, Vinciane and Dyke, Erika. ''Convoluted Beauty : In the Company of Emily Carr.'' Saskatoon, Sask.: Mendel Art Gallery, 2014.
*
* ''Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme''. Bélisle, Josée., Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. Montréal: Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal. 2008. . .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tam, Karen
Women installation artists
Canadian installation artists
1977 births
Living people
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
Concordia University alumni
Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London
20th-century Canadian women artists
21st-century Canadian women artists
Canadian expatriates in England
Canadian expatriates in the United States
Canadian women curators