On July 12, artist Oscar yi Hou revealed his latest commission, a 50 square-foot mural commissioned for UOVO’s fine art storage facility in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Yi Hou was awarded the mural commission, a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, and a $25,000 grant after having been recently named the winner of the museum’s UOVO Prize. The honor recognizes the talent of emerging Brooklyn-based artists, and yi Hou’s vibrant works aptly fit the bill.
“I’m really excited to be able to display such a large-scale public work in Brooklyn,” says yi Hou, whose work centers queer Asian and diasporic subjects and explores themes of community and identity. “The graffiti reads ‘birds of a feather’ in reverse. I wanted to express this idea of ‘flocking together’ to convey a sense of community, coalition-building, and togetherness, especially when it comes to queer and/or Asian American communities.”
After remarks from yi Hou, Brooklyn Museum senior curator Eugenie Tsai, and UOVO co-founder Steve Novenstein, guests congratulated the artist and mingled over drinks and pizza from Bushwick favorite Roberta’s. Notable attendees included Anna Park, Dominique Fung, John Auerbach, Kathy Huang, Katrin Lewinsky, Sasha Gordon, and Vittorio Calabrese. Photos: Mike Vitelli/BFA
Captions (clockwise from top left): 1. Eugenie Tsai and artist Oscar yi Hou; 2. Oscar yi Hou, Jack Hjerpe, Morgan Becker, Chase Walters, and Alexis Rolle; 3. Roberta’s pizza; 4. Ed Tang, Kate Reibel, John Auerbach, Spencer Bowers, Andrew Barron, and Alexandra Kelly; 5. yi Hou’s completed mural. 6. Kathy Huang, Dominique Fung, Megan Noh, and Gucci.
