Pit Party
Artists: Sophie Chao, Megan Hsu, Sarah Kim and Brandon Ngai
Alt Projects Gallery, Los Angeles
March 8, 2025 - April 5, 2025
Exhibition Text
alt projects proudly presents Pit Party, a four-person exhibition featuring the works of Sophie Chao, Megan Hsu, Sarah Kim and Brandon Ngai.
This exhibition explores the fantastical, larger-than-life performances of Americana. Drawing on the hyper-masculine energy of American cinema, first-person shooter video games, bombastic advertising, and the unapologetic theatrics of monster truck rallies, these artists engage with the sensationalized spectacles of American rituals, where identity is both performed and constructed.
For these artists, observation becomes a critical act of transformation. By stepping into the exaggerated world of Americana, they adopt its myths, mimic its grandiose displays, and reinterpret its cultural codes as an act of release and to achieve catharsis. This process of hybridization blurs the line between critique and participation, exposing the absurdities of a culture fixated on visibility and pride. The works resist mere representation; they reimagine Americana as a simulacrum—an amplified and performative reality that reflects both cultural tension and creative possibility.
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Sophie Chao (2003, Maryland) lives and works between Pittsburgh, PA, and Maryland. She is currently a senior, completing her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2025 with a minor in Design. Sophie has exhibited at the Frame Galley and Plexi Gallery in Pittsburgh, including her solo show An American Icon earlier this year. Using collage, hand stitching, and oil paint, Sophie examines her relationship with American Media.
Megan Hsu (1999, California) lives and works in Pasadena, CA. She received her BFA in Studio Art at Loyola Marymount University in 2023, and has exhibited at the Obscura Collective in 2025. Megan’s work transforms the ordinary into the uncanny, using muted tones and exaggerated domestic scenes to delve into the psychology behind consumerism and the exchange of values and desires. She works in ceramic, acrylic paint, and airbrushing to create playful, yet disarming spaces that encourage viewers to reflect on their own roles in these systems that drive contemporary life.
Sarah Kim (1996, Seoul, South Korea) lives and works in Pittsburgh, PA. She earned her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2019 and has exhibited at spaces including Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, and The Government Center. Sarah has held roles at the Andy Warhol Museum, Concept Art Gallery, and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, and she was a resident at Boom Concepts and Bunker Projects in 2022. Drawing inspiration from toy cars, monster trucks, and nostalgic pop culture, she embraces bold, unrefined marks in her work, celebrating imperfection, play, and the joy of making.
Brandon Ngai (1997, New York) lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2019 with a minor in Architecture. Brandon’s work has been featured in exhibitions such as Primary Lotus and Subsurface: Sight-Specific, Sight & Sound, and his illustrations have been published in Brain Dead: Mutant Sequencer. His work combines unconventional color palettes with technical precision, creating densely layered drawings influenced by a vast spectrum of media. His imagery pulls viewers in with bold colors, then unfolds in intricate details upon closer inspection.
☆Donation:
Alt Projects is an alternative project space founded in 2024 in Arcadia, California. We operate at the intersection of artistic practice and social engagement, offering an intimate platform for collaboration between artists, curators, writers, designers, architects, and art historians.
Our mission moves beyond conventional exhibition-making to address urgent local concerns while fostering international dialogue. Rooted in the cultural diversity of the San Gabriel Valley, particularly its vibrant Asian communities, we create opportunities for cross-cultural exchange. Our reach extends to New York, Pittsburgh, South Korea, and Japan, cultivating a dynamic network that resists fixed boundaries of geography, race, and identity.
Our exhibitions reflect a commitment to experimentation, vulnerability, and nuanced conversation. My Body is a Map of LA reimagined the domestic gallery as a site of friendship and memory, mapping internal landscapes shaped by Southern California’s spiritual terrain. After the Eaton Fire destroyed several works from the show, we collaborated on a print fundraiser to support the artist’s recovery.
Staring Contest, a four-person group exhibition, transformed the space into an arena of emotional endurance, using performance and sculpture to explore visibility, tension, and closeness. Pit Party, also a four-person exhibition, responded to the bombast of Americana—drawing from video games, monster truck rallies, and cinematic spectacle to examine how identity is constructed through performance. In Vague Domains, artists with Northeast Asian heritage explored themes of Otherness, ambiguity, and dual identity through the diptych format, reflecting on cultural entanglement, perception, and the psychic effects of classification in an AI-mediated world.
By moving fluidly between local engagement and international dialogue, we prioritize work that addresses cultural identity, environmental vulnerability, and collective resilience. Alt Projects supports both emerging and established artists, transforming the domestic space into a catalyst for artistic experimentation and social impact. Our aim is to create accessible entry points for a wide range of audiences while challenging traditional boundaries in contemporary art.
