Pearl Lam is a Hong Kong-born international gallerist. She is the owner of Pearl Lam Galleries.
Life and career
Lam was born in Hong Kong, which was then a British mandate. Lam is the daughter of Lim Por-yen, a Hong Kong real-estate tycoon and founder of the Lai Sun Group. At the age of eleven she was sent to be educated in the United States and the United Kingdom, where she studied accountancy and law. Following her graduation she returned to Shanghai to help her family oversee a real estate project. Not wanting to follow her parents footsteps, and with the help of artist Sun Liang, Lam soon became involved in the Chinese contemporary art scene. In 1993, Lam started organising pop-up exhibitions in Hong Kong. In 2004, Lam was asked by the French Cultural Attache to organise and curate a major exhibition in Shanghai as part of a year of cultural exchanges. The exhibition was called ‘Awakening: La France Mandarin’ and travelled to Beijing, Hong Kong and Paris that year. Lam was called the Chinese design ambassador to France by the French Foreign Ministry and Culture Ministry. From 2000 to 2008, Lam authored the column, "The Rave", for Baccarat Magazine. In 2005 Lam opened her first permanent gallery space in Shanghai, in the early years of its rise as a centre of contemporary art. Focusing on design, Lam used the gallery to introduce Chinese collectors to the international art market. Her exhibition for French designer Andree Putman in Shanghai was also shown in Hong Kong's Design Centre. The same year, Lam participated in the Forum Talks at the Foire de Paris internationale d'art contemporain, FIAC, and at a conference for the French Senate on Luxury as a guest speaker. In 2006, Lam opened a new gallery on Middle Jiangxi Road in Shanghai where it remains today. In 2009, the design gallery was moved to the lower ground floor of the Middle Jiangxi Road gallery. In 2012, she opened a permanent branch of Pearl Lam Galleries in Hong Kong's Pedder Building. The gallery's debut exhibition was curated by Gao Minglu. It was named the best gallery show of the year. The gallery then changed its name from Contrasts Gallery to Pearl Lam Galleries. In 2008, Lam founded the China Art Foundation. The foundation aims to foster global interest in contemporary Chinese art. In early 2014, Lam opened a Singapore branch of Pearl Lam Galleries in Gillman Barracks. To inaugurate the new outpost, Lam hosted a group show curated by the author and broadcaster Philip Dodd. Her works extends to sponsoring exhibitions of western art in China and funding an artist-in-residence programme in Shanghai for Western and Asian designers. In 2015, a second gallery space in the Sheung Wan district of Hong Kong, was opened with a focus on nurturing younger talents. The inaugural exhibition featured beeswax sculptures by the Beijing-based artist Ren Ri. The exhibit highlights Lam's support for young Chinese artists. Born in 1984, Ren creates beeswax sculptures by removing the artist's subjectivity and allowing bees, nature, and chance to take over the creation process.
Recognition
In 2007, a New York Times article referred to Lam as "a pioneer in the Chinese art world."
In 2009, Lam was included in ‘Women Gallerists: In the 20th and 21st Centuries’, by :de:Claudia Herstatt.
In 2008, Lam was nominated one of 100 Women of the Year in 2008 by Corriere della Sera.
In 2012, Lam was elected by "L'Officiel Art" as one of the "2012 Art Power 100".
In 2012, Lam was nominated as one of the "Design Power" list by "Art+Auction".
In 2013 Lam was listed by Forbes magazine as one of the most powerful women "Asia's Women in the Mix, 2013: The Year's Top 50 for Achievement in Business" in Asian business.
In 2013, Lam was included in ‘Women in Art: Figures of Influence’ by Reed Krakoff.
In 2014, Lam was recognised as one of the top twenty-five women in the art world by artnet news.
In 2014, Lam was nominated as one of the 100 most powerful women in art by artnet news.
In 2016, Lam was named in Blouin Art Info's "The 2016 Power List: High-Wattage Women of the Art World" for her role as an iconic international gallerist; her efforts as a pioneer in raising the profile of Chinese contemporary art; and her support of the nonprofit China Art Foundation. http://www.blouinartinfo.com/photo-galleries/the-2016-power-list-high-wattage-women-of-the-art-world-part-1?image=9
In 2017, Lam was profiled in a 'Lunch with the FT' column in the Financial Times. The article highlights her contribution to the global art community and her role in the early stages of Chinese art's international rise. It also mentions her involvement in Hong Kong's annual Art Basel, her personal journey and her views on the role of public art. https://www.ft.com/content/d3a0794c-3bb5-11e7-ac89-b01cc67cfeec
In 2017, Lam was profiled in the book "Women & Art", written by Dr. Monica Mergiu.
