Susan Kim Alvarez and Cici McMonigle: Oh For Goodness Snake!
Curated by Heike Dempster
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Cici McMonigleI’m Taking Doubles, 2024Oil on canvas
9 x 12 in
22.9 x 30.5 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Susan Kim Alvarez“Gabby’s First Firework”, 2024Oil on canvas
24 x 72 in
61 x 182.9 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Cici McMonigleLittle Lion, 2024Acrylic on panel9 x 12 in
22.9 x 30.5 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Susan Kim Alvarez“Good Soup！”, 2024Oil on canvas40 x 50 in
101.6 x 127 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Susan Kim Alvarez"Hot! Hot! Hot!", 2024Acrylic on Canvas
40 x 50 in
101.6 x 127 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Cici McMonigleConversnake, 202422 x 45 in
55.9 x 114.3 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Cici McMonigleLion Frolicking, 2024Oil on canvas9 x 12 in
22.9 x 30.5 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Susan Kim Alvarez"Roar for the Riches", 2024Oil on canvas9 x 12 in
22.9 x 30.5 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Susan Kim Alvarez“Don’t Hiss and Tell”, 2024Oil on canvas9 x 12 in
22.9 x 30.5 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Cici McMonigleBig Lion, 2024Acrylic on panel10 x 24 in
25.4 x 61 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Cici McMonigleTiger by the Tail, 2024Oil on canvas9 x 12 in
22.9 x 30.5 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Cici McMonigle“I’ll Take a Chance”, 2024Acrylic on canvas50 x 40 in
127 x 101.6 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Cici McMoniglePortrait of Bestie Susan, 2025Oil on wooden panel6 x 6 in
15.2 x 15.2 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist -
Susan Kim AlvarezPortrait of My Bestie Cici, 2024Acrylic on woodenpanel6 x 6 in
15.2 x 15.2 cmCourtesy of Latitude Gallery New YorkCopyright The Artist
Susan Kim Alvarez
(b. 2000, Honolulu, HI)
Susan Kim Alvarez is a Miami-based artist known for her vibrant landscapes that blend humor, satire, and personal mythology. She received a degree in Interdisciplinary Sculpture from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2022. Alvarez’s work employs paint and mixed materials to create fantastical, multi-layered worlds inspired by her childhood experiences and introspective explorations.
Selected solo exhibitions include Mount Royal Mansion Exhibit, curated by Abigail DeVille, Baltimore, MD (2020); Oogly Boogly at NSU Art Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL (2023); and Squonk, Squonky, Squonkalicious at Storage Archive Gallery, New York City, NY (2024).
Alvarez has participated in prestigious residencies, including the Bakehouse Art Complex Summer Residency in Miami, FL (2022) and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME (2023). Her works are held in notable public and private collections, including the Marquez Art Project and NSU Art Museum.She has participated in notable studio residencies, including the Bakehouse Art Complex (Miami, 2024) and Laundromat Art Space (Miami, 2023).
Cici McMonigle
(b. 2001, Tianjin, China)
Cici McMonigle is a Miami-based artist who studied fine art at Parsons School of Design, New York, and psychology at Polk State College, Winter Haven, Florida. Her practice explores themes of identity, emotion, and the surreal, often drawing from her interdisciplinary background.
McMonigle’s first solo museum exhibition was presented by the NSU Art Museum in 2025. Additional solo exhibitions include Wild West Circus at the Mulberry Cultural Center, Mulberry, Florida. Her work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions, including Florida Room 3: Snowbirds at KDR, Miami (2024); Seeing is Believing at Mulberry Cultural Center, Mulberry, Florida (2024); and But Naked: A Collection of Soul Bearing Work at the Polk Museum of Art (2018), among others.
LATITUDE Gallery is pleased to announce Oh for Goodness Snake!, an exhibition featuring Miami-based painters Susan Kim Alvarez and Cici McMonigle, on view from January 24 to February 24, 2025. Curated by Heike Dempsterand timed to coincide with the Lunar New Year celebrating the Year of the Snake, the exhibition explores transformation, renewal, and interconnectedness, reflecting the rich symbolism of the snake in the Chinese zodiac.
Alvarez and McMonigle, close friends since high school, draw on their shared history and artistic connection to create works that balance humor, emotional depth, and the uncanny. Informed by fables, family stories, and personal experiences, their paintings transport viewers into a fantastical world where reality merges with imagination.
The exhibition invites audiences into a vibrant universe populated by anthropomorphic figures and whimsical creatures—ranging from lions and dogs to snakes and cowboys. Alvarez and McMonigle explore intuition and movement in their painterly practices, weaving traditions with renewal and blending folklore with the interplay of the old and new.
Cultural and personal histories underpin the artists’ works. Alvarez’s Cuban, Vietnamese, and Jewish heritage informs her vivid landscapes, where figures and miniature scenes intertwine with humor and introspection. Influenced by traditions like the Lunar New Year Lion Dance, her paintings fuse mythologies and memories into layered compositions. Meanwhile, McMonigle’s half-Chinese, half-American background inspires her fantastical creatures. Growing up in South Florida, where Asians are underrepresented, she channels her multicultural experiences into surreal yet relatable characters, inviting viewers into imaginative storytelling.
Oh for Goodness Snake! celebrates the Lunar New Year and Chinese heritage with creativity, friendship, and collaboration. Set in Manhattan's historic Chinatown, the exhibition offers an immersive space filled with movement, storytelling, and tradition—embracing fantasy, music, and even slithering across the dancefloor.
For inquiries or additional information, please contact LATITUDE Gallery at s@latitudegallery.nyc or visit us at 64A Bayard Street, New York, NY 10013.
