ART EXHIBITION: Formless Matter and Its Devastating Gestures by Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman
WHERE: Campbell Art Park at Oklahoma Contemporary, 11 NW 11th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73103
TIMELINE: Opens on May 29th, 2026 and closes on April 26th, 2027
ABOUT: This monumental outdoor installation by Oklahoma City–based artists Denise Duong and Gabriel Friedman transforms Campbell Art Park into a site of story, symbolism, and discovery. Conceived as a constellation of six sculptural forms, including a head, a hand, and four birdlike spheres, the work invites viewers to enter a world where order and chaos intertwine.
The head, rising nearly thirteen feet above ground, 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 rod. 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.
Together, these six sculptures form a space both contemplative and communal. The work is grounded in chaos theory, in close observation of the artists’ young daughter, and in the search for meaning amid disorder. As Duong and Friedman note, “Beneath the veil of order lies the grand story of humanity. The question endures: How do we create order from chaos?”
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.
