VIEW PHOTOS | Joy Opening @ Kai Lin Art

It was large, festive and oh-so-typically hip for the opening of “Joy” on Friday at gay-owned Kai Lin Art in Midtown.

We’ve come to expect that opening night for exhibits at this gallery are as much about the scene as the art. In fact, it help makes the work more accessible to those whose tastes aren’t so artsy.

So Friday, with the holidays looming, gallery owner Yu-Kai Lin (top photo right) upped the ante and staged the space’s largest show yet – 15 artists, 125 pieces and a holiday party feel that made the “Joy” opening that much more entertaining.

There were gay artists among the bunch – Jon Arge (second photo center) and Aaron Jackson (bottom photo left) included – and plenty of LGBTs in the crowd, too.

For the seasonal “Joy” to close out the year, Lin asked the artists—all local, from the dean of Savannah College of Art & Design to Portfolio Center students to many in the roster of artists the gallery already represents—to produce a diverse display of works that hearken “togetherness, happiness, love and a wintry festiveness,” he says.

If you think were kidding about Kai Lin openings, just check our photo sets from shows earlier this year: “Zenith” in September, “Monsters” in July, “Afterglow” in May, “Grace” in March, and the seminal “Pop Stars and Cokeheads” in January.

“Joy” runs through Jan. 19.