“I feel so fortunate and grateful to have won the prize,” yi Hou commented. “It’s an awesome opportunity, and I’m very much looking forward to presenting a new body of work for the museum.”
Yi Hou’s portraits explore personhood, sexuality, and Chinese diaspora. They are characterized by their vivid use of color and the incorporation of graffiti elements and symbols.
Born to Cantonese immigrants in Liverpool, England, Oscar yi Hou graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Visual Arts from Columbia University. Last year, his solo exhibition A sky-licker relation was shown at James Fuentes Gallery, New York. His work has also been included in group shows organized by Sprüth Magers, Kohn Gallery, and the Royal Academy in London, among others.