Ken Lum: The Yellow Man presents new acrylic and enamel paintings that extend his long-running Language Paintings series into pre-alphabetic forms and graphic abstraction rooted in his early training as a commercial sign painter. Compositions that initially appear readable dissolve into unfamiliar configurations, frustrating comprehension. The title work adopts an unusually direct posture — capitalized block letters across shimmering gold — referencing Lum's own position as an Asian man in contemporary America, where identity oscillates between model citizen and potential threat. Works dedicated to his family, including his non-verbal daughter Linnea, explore communication that exceeds linguistic structure entirely.
