Giant “YO” Sculpture to Be Displayed at Independence Mall!
How fitting or should I say, how Philly!
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History will install artist Deborah Kass’s monumental OY/YO sculpture on its grounds, at 5th and Market Streets on Independence Mall.
At 8-feet tall, 16-feet wide, and 5-feet deep, “OY” will become part of Old City’s cultural fabric and a destination for tourists and locals alike.
The bright yellow aluminum statue is creative word play using just two letters, with several meanings. One side says “YO,” referencing the attention-getting phrase used throughout Philly, as well as “I” in Spanish, while the other side reads “OY,” a popular Yiddish phrase used in Jewish and American culture.
Both sounds are found throughout many languages and communities, suggesting jubilance and frustration, exuberance and grittiness, optimism and struggle––all expressions of life in a free society.
“I created OY/YO thinking about the American promise of equality and fairness and our responsibilities to make the country a better place for all,” says Kass. “With hate and division now on the rise, it is urgent to see our commonalities, what we share, and what brings us together.”
Kass first created OY/YO as a painting in 2011 and, in 2015, turned it into a sculpture that sat in New York’s Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2015. OY/YO will remain on view in Philadelphia for at least the next 12 months.
Where: 101 South Independence Mall East Philadelphia, PA 19106-2517
Visit www.theweitzman.org to learn more.
