173:GODZILLA

CATALOGUE
PRESS RELEASE

LatchKey Gallery (LKG) is pleased to present GODZILLAS, a group exhibition featuring the unique talents of 11 emerging artists, all MFA Fine Art candidates at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Organized by artist James O. Clark in collaboration with LKG founder/director Amanda Uribe, GODZILLAS will be on view at LatchKey Gallery, located at 173 Henry Street, from Wednesday, October 16 through Sunday, October 20th, 2024. An opening reception to warmly welcome all will be held on Wednesday, October 16, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm.

The somewhat tongue-in-cheek reference to the fictional character Godzilla illustrates a dramatic transformation (in the case of Godzilla, from harmless creature to radioactive monster, then to protector of the Earth). Much like the fictional story, GODZILLAS reflects the fractured chaos of contemporary existence, the potential for change, humanity’s struggles for redemption, and the sanctity of a guardian spirit. 

The exhibition employs a diverse array of mediums, including painting, sculpture, and performance to engage viewers in a dialogue about fragmentation, transformation, and spirituality. Viewers embark on a journey from monstrous forms provoked by internal turmoils, through systems informed by geometry and construction, towards the religious sense of self-discovery and affirmation. Each piece reflects personal narratives and collective stories, illustrating how moments of disconnection can lead to profound transfiguration.

Featured artists include: Ruoxi Hua, Lily Yoonsoo Hyon, Ningyi Jiang, Taerim Kim, Erin Rehil, Robert Ridgway, Lev Pinkus, Amanda Ruimiao Wang, Austin Clay Willis, Hyunjun Yang, Yixin Yang

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Ruoxi Hua (b. 1999, Suzhou, China) is a New York-based figurative painter. Hua’s works often involve figures locked in geometric shapes, be it the architectural structures rendered in the painting or the literal geometric shapes on the panels. The juxtaposition of organic human figures and cold industrial structures imparts senses of claustrophobia, alienation, and even depression that one suffers living in the contemporary world. The interaction between the figures in his paintings are often limited, if not completely absent, rendering the feeling of discomfort as public space invades private territory. 

Hua has exhibited in numerous group shows, including Being Seen at The Artists Gallery in Frederick MD (2022), Rites of Passage: 18th Annual Emerging Artists Exhibit at Manifest Creative Research Gallery and Drawing Center in Cincinnati, OH (2022), and Democracy in Danger at Stola Contemporary Art in Chicago, IL (2022). Recently, Hua was included in a three-person group exhibition Echoes of Presence: Trace at Paris Koh Fine Arts in Fort Lee, NJ (2024). Notably, he received the 3rd place in 2nd Annual Greatest Students Exhibition by The In Art Gallery (2022). Borned and raised in Suzhou, China, Hua traveled from China to the US in 2017 to attend The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where he double-majored in studio art and biology, along with a minor in philosophy, and received a Bachelor of Science degree. Currently, he is a second-year MFA Fine Art candidate at School of Visual Arts in New York.

Lily Yoonsoo Hyon (b. Korea) is an artist living and working in Brooklyn, NY. She is a current MFA candidate at the School of Visual Arts (2025) and received her BFA in Studio Art (2020) from Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts, Washington University in St. Louis. 

Hyon’s practice explores power dynamics between the fem body and dominant culture through irony. Hyon creates fleshy silicone castings of a wide array of materials, such as her own body, lingerie and second-hand clothing. In her headless figurative sculptures, she inverts western religious iconography of the cross to recontextualize the body. The figures are full of clashing aesthetics– the hands and feet props are decorated with long acrylic nails with bold tattoos that revere Christ and fighting, while styled in vintage prairie dresses that symbolize Puritanism, Americana and the colonial history of religion. Playing with the constant tension between control and resistance, Hyon manipulates familiar objects into representational forms to exploit their fetish value through evocative violence. 

Ningyi “Ninja” Jiang (b. China) is an image maker, video creator and story breaker specializing in video installations that merge video, music, and performance with diverse materials and mediums. Her work delves into the intricate relationships between people and their environments. Starting with a city, neighborhood, or even a small space, through research, exploration of environment, interacting with the surroundings, she gets her version of the site-specific stories that will blur reality and illusion.

Jiang first moved from south of China to the north for university, and later went from the east to the west of the world to pursue her art education. She now resides in Brooklyn.

Taerim Kim (b. 1995, Korea) is an artist living and working in New York. He graduated from the BFA program from the Kyonggi University in Korea and is a current MFA candidate at School of Visual Arts.

His paintings explore the fleeting essence of "Geumho San," the Seoul slums in South Korea where he grew up, which now linger as ephemeral landscapes in collective memory. These places, created amidst the struggles of post- Korean War, are a testament to the yearning for a brighter future. Through oil paint, he renders the tactile quality of these memories with complex structures now blurred and colors muted by the passage of time. With a raw immediacy and tenderness, he looses brushstrokes to create intensity and instability and builds up geometric shapes of flat planes. Kim uses lumping and thick buildup of oil to capture snapshots of a reality and recollection. His paintings lie at the intersection of abstraction and realism by extracting indeterminate forms generated by dots, lines, and faces in describing the old place as it is, invoking Geumho San's textures and the emotional remnants of his memories. This process transforms the landscape into a canvas of abstracted chaos, prompting viewers to interpret involving imagery of his personal recollections.
Erin Rehil (b.1983, Flint, Michigan) is a New York -based visual artist and international art educator. Rehil has exhibited paintings and drawings nationally, including in Michigan, Georgia, and New York, as well as internationally in Hong Kong. Rehil’s work draws from personal identity and features dreams and the subconscious, nature-based spirituality, and a merging of inner and outer realities. 
After completing a month-longstudy abroad in China, Rehil's international teaching career began with two years at Shanghai United International School, within an experimental bilingual program combining Eastern and Western approaches to art-making. Rehil later spent five years in Hong Kong at both American International School in Kowloon, serving also as a departmental head, and at Hong Kong Academy in Sai Kung. This period in Hong Kong included two summers of teaching Summer Seminar courses at SCAD Hong Kong and assisting on the committee that hosted the 2018 Asia Region Workshop for Art Educators (ARWAE), during which Rehil presented a workshop on drawing with silverpoint. These years abroad culminated in Sohar, Oman, where Rehil taught International Baccalaureate art for the Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP) at Al Batinah International School, setting up and managing a state-of-the-art ceramics department. The International Baccalaureate’s dedication to cultivating international-mindedness is a value reflected in Rehil’s multinational family.

Erin Rehil holds a BFA in Illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design, a BS in Art Education from the University of Michigan, and is currently an MFA Fine Arts candidate at School of Visual Arts in New York. Rehil lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and maintains a studio in Chelsea.

Robert Ridgway is a Toronto-born installation artist who got his start making large-scale installations for nightclubs. After many years working in nightlife he was driven to create art that was more meaningful and didn’t have the limitations of a nightclub audience. He began working in galleries in Montreal before he decided to return to school to learn more art skills and to begin his personal fine art practice.  With the skills he needed to create he started creating a body of large scale sculptures and narrative installations focused on various social justice issues he found relevant to his personal experience. He graduated with honors, receiving the 2021 Ontario College of Art and Design University sculpture and installation award. His work is political and highly referential to artists he sees as his contemporaries.  His work is presented in a way that the viewer is struck with the beauty before being confronted by the messages contained within.  He describes his work as being “beautiful poison” using awe and beauty to draw viewers in to be confronted with the poisonous messages contained within.  Using a language of strong iconography his work is competent and beautiful that is easy for audiences to digest its inner messages.

Lev Pinkus (b.1993) is an MFA Fine Arts candidate at the School of Visual Arts, and earned his BA in English and Creative Writing from Colby College in 2017. 

Pinkus’s paintings and drawings demonstrate a practice that is dialectical and layered. His vibrant artworks are mathematically constructed, yet tactile and expressive in their applications of color and line. Through its uses of perceptual midpoints, bifurcation, and spectral visual elements, Pinkus’s work presents a pictorial method for examining and resolving the conflict between opposing ideas. His images’ partly-digital, partly-analog qualities position them in the present moment, and expand conversations around painting and art history.

Amanda Wong (Ruimiao Wang) was born in Beijing, China. She started receiving professional art training and English education at Fine Arts School Affiliated to China Central Academy of Fine Arts. She studied painting at Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts beginning in 2018.

Now, she lives and studies at School of Visual Arts in New York. Her paintings are closely related to her personal growth and experiences, filled with her own reflections on life, materials, and memories. Her paintings seem to be a sweet reminiscence of her personal life. Everything she sees and hears is inspiration for her creations. Usually, the characters and life fragments she creates are based on materials she has photographed herself.

Austin Clay Willis (b. 1997 in Berkeley, California) is currently an MFA Candidate at the School of Visual Arts and received his Bachelors in Visual Art from the University of Victoria in British Columbia. He has received commissions in Oakland, Pleasanton, San Bruno (California), and Victoria, BC. Over the past few years, he has participated in group and solo shows in New York, Toronto, and Vancouver. In 2023, Austin produced a solo show at the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art in Kelowna, BC. In conjunction with the show, he worked with the University of British Columbia to provide an Artist Lecture on his practice and the exhibit. Additionally, Austin was awarded the Research and Creation grant from the Canada Council for the Arts which supported his month-long artist residency at Popps Packing in Hamtramck Michigan in 2021. During this residency, he created a large scale installation as well as a smaller scale experimental outdoor work.

Hyunjun Yang (b. Korea) is a painter, sculptor, fashion designer, wood worker and

video maker. His work is based on the negative feelings that occurred for him living in the competitive and strict society of South Korea. Born and raised by his fashion designer mother, he pursued his career which included some fashion shows. While on his path to pursuing a BFA in Fashion Design, Yang developed several mental illnesses. To deal with this situation, he started to create art. 

Yang has exhibited his work in South Korea and Hong Kong including both solo and group exhibitions. His work was included in People of Civilian Control Line by Lim Heung-soon in Odusan Unification Observatory, 2022, and The 3rd HK & KOR Art Contest Exhibition in L0 Gallery, Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, HONG KONG, in 2018. His work was exhibited multiple times in Gachon University Vision Tower B1 Art Gallery. He received the silver award in The 3rd HK & KOR Art Contest.

Yang holds a BFA in Fashion Design and Fine Arts form Gachon University and is currently studying in the MFA Fine Arts program at School of Visual Arts (expected in 2025). After living in Seoul, South Korea for 25 years, Yang moved to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York, in the fall of 2023.

Yixin Yang (b. 1996, Yuncheng, China) is a New York-based emerging artist. Specializing in installation, sculpture, and public art, Yang uses multiple media to delve into the complexity of personal identity, connection, and belonging. Her work reflects a journey of reconciling familial bonds with newly formed relationships in unfamiliar environments. Through multimedia installations such as My New House, Yang explores the intersections of memory, cultural heritage, and emotional attachment. She incorporates materials like thread, fabric, and sound to create immersive experiences that blur the boundaries between reality and metaphor, often portraying the fragility and strength of human connections. Inspired by her moving to New York in 2023, Yang seeks to establish a sense of belonging by weaving personal and collective histories into tangible forms.

Yang has exhibited in multiple group shows, including Journals of Young Artists at ENJOY-ART MUSEUM in Beijing, China (2023) and TO DALI at Dali’s Gallery in Dali, China (2024). Yang received her BFA in Visual Communications and Design from Beijing Technology and Business University in 2020. She is currently an MFA Fine Art candidate at the School of Visual Arts in New York.