Lectures and Talks
Art Connects | Artist Talk: Ho Tam
Thu Feb 10, 2022 | 4 PM
Vancouver Art Gallery
Ho Tam, Courtesy of the Artist
“Looking back at my works over the years, I realize that they often share a common theme or motif—colour.” — Ho Tam
From his early artist’s book The Yellow Pages to recent projects about Hong Kong’s pro-democratic protests and the global Black Lives Matter movement, Vancouver–based artist Ho Tam continues to return to particular colour(s) in symbolic, conceptual and literal ways.
In this artist talk, presented in celebration of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Tiger, Tam will take us on an informal survey of his artistic practice as it relates to ideas of colour.
Tam will be in conversation with Lynn Chen, Programming Assistant for the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Institute of Asian Art, and Stephanie Bokenfohr, Adult Public Programs Coordinator.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Ho Tam was born in Hong Kong and educated in Canada and the United States. He practices in multiple disciplines including photography, video, painting and print media. His first video, based on his artist’s book The Yellow Pages, was commissioned by the public art group PUBLIC ACCESS for an installation/projection at Union Station in Toronto. Since then, Tam has produced over 20 experimental videos. He was included in the travelling exhibition Magnetic North: Canadian Experimental Video, co-organized by the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, and Video Pool Inc, Winnipeg. His feature documentary film Books of James (2002) was awarded Outstanding Artistic Achievement at Outfest in Los Angeles and Best Feature Documentary at the Tel Aviv LGBT Film Festival. He has also published several series of artist’s books and zines and is currently operating Hotam Press, a bookshop/gallery in Vancouver. Tam is an alumnus of Whitney Museum Independent Studies Program and Bard College (MFA), and he is the recipient of various fellowships and grants.
The artist would like to acknowledge that he resides on the unceded, occupied, ancestral and traditional homelands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səlí”lwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.