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YO/OY artist Deborah Kass views new Old City installment
Deborah Kass, the artist behind the OY/YO sculpture, visits the new installation in Old City.
PHILADELPHIA - What started off as a painting is now Philadelphia's newest sculpture.
On Sunday, the new "OY/YO" sculpture was installed outside the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History on 5th and Market Streets in Old City.
"It's two little letters that speak to many, many communities," said Deborah Kass, the artist behind the eight feet tall sculpture.
"OY/YO," depending on which side you look at the sculpture, will either read "YO" or "OY." Kass says "Yo" is a greeting term in many communities and "Oy" is a Yiddish term that signifies exasperation or worry.
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When you walk up to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, the "YO" side of the sculpture is outfacing. Kass says she decided to have "YO" facing museum visitors because she likes the welcome that it represents.
Kass created the first painting of "OY" in 2010 before creating its counterpart, "YO" a year later.
"In 2011, I made "YO" because I saw a reflection of "OY" in a window and the painting made itself," said Kass.
In 2015, Kass created her first large "OY/YO" sculpture, which started out in between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges in New York City. Now, the original "OY/YO" has been permanently installed in front of the Brooklyn Museum of Art. "OY/YO" is also on the West Coast at Stanford University in front of the Cantor Art Center.
Now, there is an "OY/YO" in Philadelphia to celebrate the reopening of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish history, which has been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum will be open to visitors on May 13.