In Close Proximity: Anna Berghuis • Kyra Gregory • Ray Hwang
The artists in this exhibition bring their unique and dynamic takes as young millennials navigating life and the effects of the global pandemic. Responding to isolation during the pandemic, Anna Berghuis started her FaceTime Series painting digital versions of subjects she communicated on FaceTime. Painted mainly in 2020 and in her childhood bedroom, her FaceTime portraits are studies of non-curated visages, providing contrasting takes on hyper-stylized and superficial facades bombarding us everyday via social media and on the TV screen. Kyra Gregory turns their focus on domesticity and the interiors. Their subjects are flatmates and friends sharing tight living spaces, having breakfast or lounging on the couch; mundane activities yet voyeuristic to the viewer. The large scale dinner table scene depicting friends playing cards, Card Players, 2021 incorporates both printmaking and painting. Raymond Hwang’s take on life in the pandemic is both humorous and surreal. Adding absurdity into the everyday sprinkled with some boyhood love for superheroes and food, Hwang delves into the theme of home and belonging using still life and objects with cultural references.
Anna Berghuis (born Baltimore, MD, based New York) graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Art History and Studio Arts. She was awarded Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts Alex Adams ’07 award.
Kyra Gregory (born Richmond VA, based New York) graduated from Princeton University with a degree in Studio Art, Art History and Gender and Sexuality Studies. Their primary focus is printmaking and they were the winner of the Lucas Award in Visual Arts, Princeton University.
Raymond Hwang (born Los Angeles, CA, based in New York) graduated from the School of Visual Arts New York City with a Bachelors of Fine Arts. He has exhibited in Los Angeles, Denver, Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York. He won the Jeanne Ward Foundation Art Grant, San Marino, California in 2013.
