The Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center sends this information as posted below:
OKLAHOMA CITY (Nov. 20, 2025) — Oklahoma Contemporary will unveil a new public sculpture by beloved Oklahoma City-based artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman on May 28, 2026. The artwork, titled Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures, will transform Campbell Art Park into a site of story, symbolism and discovery. The work is grounded in chaos theory, in close observation of the artists’ young daughter and in the search for meaning amid disorder. “Beneath the veil of order lies the grand story of humanity. The question endures: How do we create order from chaos?” said Duong and Friedman.
Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures creates a constellation of six sculptural forms, including a head, a hand and four birdlike spheres.
The head, standing nearly thirteen feet tall, recalls a colossal figure emerging from the earth. Constructed of cedar and embellished with Duong’s signature floral motifs, it features a series of hidden apertures. Through these openings, visitors glimpse a vivid interior world of characters, narratives and light, an imagined cosmos of memory and imagination. The hand reaches toward the smallest bird, evoking an innocent gesture of recognition and care.
The four bird sculptures, ranging from five to twelve feet in diameter, are woven from welded steel rods. Visitors can step through doorways aligned along a single axis, as if passing through sightlines that extend from one bird to the next, culminating in the open eye of the woman. Within each form, delicate metal drawings depict fragments of family, two parents and two children, rendered as abstracted archetypes that speak to lineage, resilience and loss.
Duong and Friedman have a well-established legacy of public artworks in the Oklahoma City metro. Duong’s whimsically proportioned figures will be instantly recognizable to fans of her Oklahoma City murals. The duo unveiled We Have Arrived, a sculpture honoring Vietnamese immigrants, in the Asian District’s Military Park in April 2025. Their interactive sculpture I give to you a piece of me is on view in Oklahoma Contemporary’s ArtNow: Materials and Boundaries exhibition through Feb. 15, 2026.
“Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures brings two Oklahoma artists into direct dialogue with the landscape of Campbell Art Park. Denise Duong’s large-scale, cut-steel figures and Gabriel Friedman’s earth-based sculptures transform raw materials into vivid reflections on resilience, impermanence and renewal,” said Oklahoma Contemporary Executive Director Trent Riley. “Together, their works reimagine the park as a living studio, one where the act of creation mirrors the natural forces that shape our world.”
Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures will be on view in Campbell Art Park from May 28, 2026, through April 26, 2027.
About the Artists
Denise Duong is a Vietnamese American artist whose practice is rooted in storytelling, movement and a profound connection to nature. Her work spans paintings, drawings, murals and public art, appearing in galleries across the United States and abroad. Civic engagement is central to her practice, with contributions to organizations such as the ACLU of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Humanities and Planned Parenthood. She frequently collaborates with Friedman on large-scale public works throughout Oklahoma City.
Gabriel Friedman is a multidisciplinary artist whose projects encompass sculpture, interactive installations, art book publications and site-specific community works. His practice is driven by narrative and concept, with materials chosen to serve the story at hand. Raised in Oklahoma City within a family of artists and free thinkers, Friedman brings an eclectic background in fine art photography, teaching, alternative building, skateboard photojournalism and design into his expansive public works.
Together, Duong and Friedman merge their visions into projects that emphasize creativity, craftsmanship, connection and community, giving form to works that invite audiences into dialogue with art and with one another.
About Oklahoma Contemporary
Oklahoma Contemporary, formed in 1989 as City Arts Center by Christian Keesee and Kirkpatrick Foundation Director Marilyn Myers, is a nonprofit organization committed to providing quality, accessible and affordable arts programming. With a mission to encourage artistic expression in all its forms through education, exhibitions and performance, Oklahoma Contemporary is committed to instilling in the public a lifetime appreciation of the arts and enthusiasm for creative practice. For more information on free exhibitions, class schedules and public programs, visit oklahomacontemporary.org.
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