Introduction
Pearl Lam（Chinese：林明珠）is a Hong Kong born art dealer and collector. She is the owner of Pearl Lam Galleries. She lives between Hong Kong, Shanghai and London.
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. Following her graduation she returned to Shanghai to help her family oversee a real estate project.
In 1993, Lam started organizing pop-up exhibitions in Hong Kong.
In 2004, Lam was asked by the French Cultural Attache to organize 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 (then known as 'Talkies').
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.
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.
Lam also manages a design workshop, XYZ, which produces custom furnishings and lightings solely for her galleries and apartments.
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 recognized 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.