Black and White Portraits

Ken Lum

Lachlan Sword
Ken Lum

1) This piece is designed to be a store sign telling its customers about an upcoming blow-out sale because it’s owner “Amir” is moving back to Eritrea.
2) 3)With this piece I believe Lum is trying to communicate that immigrants that come to North America expecting it to be the prosperous and accepting nation it is made out to be by propaganda, are often disappointed by reality. This being the situation, the idea of being able to go back home is always in the back of their minds. Also, the fact that “Amir” is from Eritrea, Africa and restores, watches, jewelry and shoes, plays with the concept that African Americans have always been doing the work for Caucasian people while simultaneously being treated as lower class beings.
4) I would define conceptualism to be a thought-provoking idea transferred into a full scale art project. It is a conceptual piece because it tackles many different topics on one canvas and it you can tell that every detail was well thought out by Lum.