The Weitzman announced that it will install Brooklyn-based artist Deborah Kass’ OY/YO sculpture on its grounds at 5th and Market streets on April 29, where it will stay for a year.
The bright yellow aluminum statue, which stands 8-feet-tall, 16-feet-wide and 5-feet deep, features word play with several meanings.
One side says “YO,” which references the famous Philadelphia-area phrase (and also means “I” in Spanish), while the other side reads “OY,” the popular Yiddish phrase.
Both sounds are common around the world and suggest “jubilance and frustration, exuberance and grittiness, optimism and struggle –– all expressions of life in a free society,” the museum formerly known as the National Museum of American Jewish History said in a news release.
“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,” Kass said. “With hate and division now on the rise, it is urgent to see our commonalities, what we share and what brings us together.”
Kass created OY/YO as a painting in 2011, turning it into a sculpture in 2015.
