This exhibition concentrated on his recent series of diptychs, begun in 1993, featuring staged portraits of ‘ordinary’ people alongside texts which are apparently the speech or thoughts of the subjects.
These works focused attention on the personalities, feelings and problems of the subjects and Lum did not deny the voyeuristic element in the work. The images and texts combined to involve the viewer in the anxiety and humour of these everyday but emotionally-charged scenes.
A four-part video work relating strongly in treatment and subject-matter to the diptychs, and made especially for the exhibition, was also included. This was the first time Lum’s work was shown in this country.
