Kenneth Tam

The Weitzman Department of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania and the Institute of Contemporary Art are pleased to present an artist lecture and presentation with Kenneth Tam, whose practice uses moving-image, sculpture, installation, movement and performance to examine themes including the performance of masculinity, the transformative potential of ritual, and expressions of intimacy within groups.

This free public lecture is part of a series that gathers distinguished artists, activists, writers, and disruptors whose work engages with the social and cultural themes of our time.

Kenneth Tam was born in Queens, NY and attended the Cooper Union.  He is assistant professor at Rice University, as well as faculty at the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.  Selected solo exhibitions include Bridget Donahue, NY; ICA LA, CA; Queens Museum, NY;  Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA), CA; Ballroom Marfa, TX; and MIT List Visual Arts Center, MA. He is represented by Commonwealth and Council in Los Angeles

Taking an interdisciplinary approach, Tam uses moving-image, sculpture, installation, movement and performance to examine themes including the performance of masculinity, the transformative potential of ritual, and expressions of intimacy within groups. Tam often implicates the male body in his projects, using humor and pathos to reveal the unstable nature of identity, and often creates situations that foreground vulnerability within unlikely settings. 

Registration
Registration link coming soon. | Zoom link coming soon.

ICA is committed to creating a welcoming environment for all visitors. For more notes on accessibility including accessible parking nearby visit our Accessibility landing page. If you require any accessibility accommodations or have any questions about the program, please contact Derek Rigby (mrigby@ica.upenn.edu).

In their varied approaches and techniques, these individuals speak to ICA’s ethos of artistic experimentation and practice that engages with the social and cultural themes of our time. As artists, writers, and cultural producers, their artwork and criticism expand across themes of popular culture, queer life, kinship & community, and de/construction through the utilization of sculpture, performance, sound, collage, installation, and more.

In this lecture series, we invite you all to engage in conversation with our participants and become a part of an active dialogue that explores the stake of contemporary art in our society and culture.

Support
The Master of Fine Arts program at Penn is focused on the professional development of visual artists. Through workshops, seminar courses, international residency opportunities and interactions with curators, writers and artists, the program provides an open intellectual framework to foster independent methods of artistic research.

Programming at ICA is made possible in part by the Emily and Jerry Spiegel Fund to Support Contemporary Culture and Visual Arts and the Lise Spiegel Wilks and Jeffrey Wilks Family Foundation. Public and Student Engagement at ICA is supported by the Bernstein Public Engagement Fund, Suzanne Weiss Doft & Jacob W. Doft, Stacey & Robert Goergen Jr., Hilarie L. & Mitchell Morgan, the Nash Family Foundation, Joline & David Stemerman, and by Dana McDonald Strong & Mark W. Strong.