Karen Tam


Karen Tam is a Canadian artist who is known for her installation works that recreate 'ethnic spaces' such as Chinese restaurants, karaoke lounges and Chinatown curio shops to challenge the Western perception of the Chinese. She is based in Montreal, Quebec.

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 and a PhD in Cultural Studies from Goldsmiths.

Exhibitions

Tam's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries such as the Ormeau Baths Gallery, Irish Museum of Modern Art, Betty Rymers Gallery and 11th Street Gallery/Columbia College, Foster-Tanner Gallery, YVZ Artists' Outlet, Khyber Centre for the Arts, and MAI - Montréal arts interculturels.
Tam is represented by Galerie Hugues Charbonneau in 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 in 2010 and 2016

List of major exhibitions

Selected solo exhibitions