KILLION HUANG

Killion Huang, Arcana :

EDJI Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new works by Chinese artist Killion Huang.

For his third exhibition at the gallery, Killion Huang (b. 1999) presents a series of paintings completed in late 2025 that uses the enigmatic framework of the Tarot to navigate the intimacy of queer life in contemporary culture. Moving beyond static divination, Huang treats the Arcanas as a fluid canvas where symbology is filtered through personal history. This dialogue between ancient iconography and the lived experience of the interpreter forms the core of his latest body of work.

Throughout this series, Huang recontextualizes the dense iconography of the Tarot, reimagining these figures through a "bronze" materiality. By incorporating these statuesque, metallic elements, Huang disrupts his signature saturated palette with a medium synonymous with historical authority and endurance. This shift serves as a rebuttal to the precariousness of LGBTQ existence in a landscape of digital erasure and shuttered social spaces. By adopting the aesthetic language of the public monument, Huang asserts that queer identities, often marginalized by official history, possess an unshakeable, formidable status.

Technically, this series marks an evolution in Huang’s process. While his signature "permanent rose" underpainting continues to provide a luminous backlight, he now applies the medium in visceral, thick layers, scratching through the surface to create "waterfall" textures that allow colors to merge with organic fluidity. As an artist with color vision deficiency, Huang’s heightened sensitivity to reds, browns, and blues fuels a unique chromatic system. These deep, earthy palettes act as a visual tether to the external world, providing a sense of psychological security in a world that might otherwise "feel too gray.”.

Within this framework, domestic interiors transcend mere settings to become psychological extensions of the studio. These rooms function as fortified spaces for queer desire, echoing the intimate, enclosed atmospheres of postwar photography by Herbert Tobias. The compositions are themselves informed by a rich lineage: Pierre Bonnard’s interior light, David Hockney’s pictorial organization, and the figurative language of his mentor, T.M. Davy. 

However, Huang often blurs or simplifies facial features, prioritizing the raw honesty of posture and gesture. By weaving these private interiors into the ancient symbolism of the Tarot, he asserts a presence that the law has yet to formally acknowledge. In the wake of recent regression of LGBTQ rights around the world, these paintings challenge systemic silence, suggesting that while these histories may be scrubbed from the public eye, they remain an indelible and courageous part of the modern human landscape.

Sales & Press inquiries : hello@edjigallery.com.

Press highlight