Deborah Kass American, b. 1952

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Deborah Kass  is an American multidisciplinary artist whose work serves as a bold, witty, and often neon-soaked interrogation of art history, identity politics, and pop culture. Based in Brooklyn, she has spent decades "talking back" to the male-dominated canon of Modernism.

 
Kass is best known for her sophisticated use of appropriation. Rather than just copying, she "samples" the styles of iconic male artists—such as Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, and Jackson Pollock—and infuses them with feminist, queer, and Jewish perspectives.
 

  • The Warhol Project: In the 1990s, she gained significant acclaim for replacing Warhol’s subjects (like Marilyn Monroe or Elvis) with her own idols, most notably Barbra Streisand. This work questioned who is deemed "worthy" of being a pop icon.

  • Text and Neon: Her later work shifted toward large-scale neon installations and paintings that utilize lyrics from Broadway musicals and pop songs to explore personal and political desire.

  • OY/YO: Perhaps her most famous public contribution, this bright yellow sculpture sits in Brooklyn Bridge Park (and other locations). It plays on the Yiddish "Oy" and the quintessential Brooklyn "Yo," depending on which side you stand on.

     
Her work is held in prestigious permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Whitney Museum of American Art.
She received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and participated in the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program.
 
Kass occupies a unique space in the art world as a "fan" who is also a critic. By mimicking the "Great Masters," she effectively hijacks their authority to demand space for those historically left out of the gallery frame. As she often notes, her work is about visibility—making sure that a Jewish girl from Long Island is just as monumental as a Campbell’s soup can.