Ivan Lam (B.1975)
B. 1975, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Lives and works in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Ivan Lam (B. 1975) has earned a reputation as one of Malaysia’s leading contemporary artists for his continuous ability to push the boundaries of his art practice. Unafraid to take risks and never content to lean on the familiar, he is constantly posing himself new challenges through experimentation with techniques and mediums, taking his art practice to the next level. In so doing he has evolved into an artist of critical acclaim who is answerable only to himself, consistently striving towards conceiving and actualizing new concepts and ideas.
Over the last 23 years he has charted new territory on the contemporary Malaysian art scene with his mastery of printmaking, his conquering of contemporary painting, through his trademark use of resin both imbuing his paintings with a technical ingenuity and transforms the narrative tone of the work – adding hyper-reality to the natural, distance to the familiar, pragmatism to pathos. Other dualities and dichotomies abound within his paintings and conceptual works, both harmoniously and in tension, underpinning his enquiries on popular culture, current affairs, art history and autobiography. His practice has recently taken on a more conceptual bias, raising questions around authorship, the role of the artist and the very nature of art itself.
He has exhibited widely in the local and international arena and has also garnered multiple awards in a career laden with solo and group exhibitions.
Ivan Lam has been recognized for his achievements and has been collected by reputed institutions in Malaysia, Europe and the USA. He was the first and only Malaysian artist selected to present a one-man project at the inaugural Art Basel Hong Kong in 2013, and was the first Malaysian artist commissioned by Louis Vuitton for their collection in 2014.
In 2017, he presented a performance work entitled ‘Curating Human Experiences: Human Experience 66:06:06’ in Kuala Lumpur, and was the only artist from Malaysia invited to create a project for the Karachi Biennale in the same year.
Ivan Lam was one of four Malaysian artists to represent Malaysia at the country’s first ever National Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia in 2019. The work presented, One Inch (2019) explores dualities and dichotomies which sit both harmoniously and in tension in Lam’s work, beguiling the viewer to discover the multiple meanings within.
In 2020, he launched ‘The Ivan Lam Giveaway’ an online platform where art is used as a tool to promote action. In 2022, he presents ‘catharsis’ – his most personal and important series to date. Consisting of five large-panelled paintings, ‘catharsis’ encapsulates Lam’s years of experiencing, understanding and accepting the depths of excruciating physical pain.
Lam’s solo exhibition in 2023, titled ‘Blind Side’, touched upon the often-neglected demographic in the art scene: the visually impaired. Inspired by his conversations with the Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB), Lam delved into the concept of blindness, seeking to understand their perspective and the challenges they faced in society. Lam also utilised a spectrum of vibrant colours in addition to incorporating Braille, in the form of vinyl dots, into his artwork. His piece “Blindsight (2022)” in this series stood out for its ironic use of Braille that was not raised, rendering it illegible to both the blind and the sighted. Lam states, “People who can read Braille cannot see the message. Those who can see Braille also cannot read the message”. By imbuing a new essence and significance alongside his unique signature style in this series, he offered an opportunity for the visually impaired to engage and experience the artworks through braille inscriptions. Thus, he created an all-encompassing environment that accommodated everyone, irrespective of one’s visual abilities.