Ken Lum

Ken Lum's acrylic paintings on wooden panels explore identity and language through figuration and text-based imagery.

Why go

Lum's practice has long engaged questions of representation and naming; these new works, including pieces titled *The Yellow Man* and *All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy profaned*, suggest a deepening engagement with how language and visual form collide around questions of race and belonging.

What to expect

A gallery installation of large-scale acrylic and enamel paintings on wooden panels (ranging from roughly 60 to 75 inches square), presented across multiple walls with varied compositions mixing figuration, text, and abstraction.

Things to know

• Ken Lum is a Canadian artist known since the 1980s for text-and-image work probing identity and social meaning.
• Exhibition runs May 7–June 20, 2026 at Magenta Plains on the Lower East Side.
• Works include *The Yellow Man*, *Tel Quel*, *The Promise of Linus*, *All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy profaned*, *My Deare
• Paintings employ acrylic and enamel on wooden panels, a material choice that emphasizes surface and object-hood.

Plan your visit

Gallery hours are 11 AM–6 PM. Located at 149 Canal Street, New York, NY 10002. Contact 917-388-2464 or [email protected] for inquiries.