Denise Duong's Art Journey
Contemporary Visual Artist
Denise Duong is a Vietnamese American artist from Oklahoma City, OK. Her curiosity, art practice, and love of exploration have taken her around the world. After attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Duong spent time in Hawaii learning capoeira and surfing, while enjoying the life as a beach bum. She went on to create a prolific array of paintings, murals, drawings, sculptures, and installations, with her first solo exhibitions in Oklahoma City and Park City, Utah, circa 2005. Her work has been shown across the United States and internationally, including South Korea, Singapore, southern India, Canada, and Colombia. Along the way, she has met several U.S. leaders; in 2010 she painted a hope chest for President George H. W. Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush for a childhood cancer research gala in Washington, D.C. In May 2024, she celebrated AANHPI Heritage Month at the residence of Vice President Kamala Harris and First Gentleman Douglas Emhoff, where she presented an exhibition of her work. Duong also transforms spaces into interactive experiences, with projects at the Science Museum of Oklahoma, 21c Museum Hotel, and JRB Art at the Elms, among others. She also collaborates with her life and art partner, Gabriel Friedman; together they have created sculptures installed at Scissortail Park, Capitol Hill, and the Science Museum of Oklahoma. A project especially dear to them was an artist residency at OU Children’s Hospital, where they worked with young patients to create a large-scale puzzle mural, self proclaimed as the largest puzzle ever made. Duong lives in Oklahoma City with Gabriel, their two daughters, two cats, a fish, a puppy, and the spirits of the lost dogs and an occasional opposum.
Exhibitions
SOLO
2025
The Unyielding Spirit — MA Doran Gallery, Tulsa, OK
2024
AAPINH Art Gallery at Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris
Residence, Washington, D.C.
This Is How It Is — JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
2023
Future Reimagined — JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
2020
Continuum: The Indefinite Progress of Existence — JRB Art at the Elms,
Oklahoma City, OK
2019
Off the Deep End — 21c Museum & Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK
L — Galerie Aile, Seoul, South Korea
Untitled, J GO Gallery, Park City, UT
Untitled, Vickers Collection, Aspen, CO
2018
Chemers Gallery, Tustin, CA
J GO Gallery, Park City, UT
2017
Light in the Dark – JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
2016
Untitled – J Go Gallery, Park City, UT
Living and Breathing - Gallery Aile, Seoul, South Korea
2015
It’s All Good — Mainline, Tulsa, OK
Flux — JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
2013
Oxymoron — JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
To Pioneer — Gaylord Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
2012
Memoirs — JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
2011
The Art of Journeying — Portsmouth Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
2010
Delicious — Oklahoma State Capitol Art Gallery, Oklahoma City, OK
Aria — Phoenix Gallery, Park City, UT
GROUP
2025
Mother of All Art Shows — Eden Studio, New York, NY
I Give To you A Piece of Me-Art Now (collaborative interactive sculpture with
Gabriel Friedman) — Oklahoma Contemporary Art Center, Oklahoma City, OK
2024
Transitions — Oklahoma Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
2023
J Go Gallery at Bainbridge, Bainbridge, Washington
2022
Whompa Gallery, Tulsa, Ok
J Go Gallery, Park City, UT
2021
Left Hand of Liminality (with Gabriel Friedman) — Mainsite Gallery, Norman, OK
2019
Winter, J Go Gallery, Park City, UT
2018
Vickers Collection, Aspen CO
2017
Vox Femina — Art of the Ozarks, Arkansas
2015
Its all good - Mainline, Tulsa, OK
J GO Gallery, Park City, UT
Iocovozzi Gallery, Savannah GA
DAB Art & Hud Gallery, Ventura, CA
2014
JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
2013
Oxymoron -JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
To Pioneer - Gaylord Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK
2012
Memoirs-= JRB Art at the Elms, Oklahoma City, OK
Portraits-, Artist Registry,Washington D.
2011
Portsmouth Museum of Art, Portsmouth, NH
Energaia Gallery, Toronto, Canada
Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX
MURALS & SCULPTURE / PUBLIC WORKS &
COMMISSIONS
2026
Formless Matter (coming May) — Campbell Art Park, Oklahoma Contemporary
Arts, Oklahoma City, OK
2025
We Have Arrived — Vietnamese Boat Project sculpture, Asian District, Oklahoma
City, OK
Ready or Not — Sunnydayz Mural Festival, Oklahoma City, OK
Metamorphosis — mural, Kochi, India
2024
Artwork commissioned by National Endowment for the Humanities Washington
D.C
Painting and prints for Skirvin Hilton Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK
Shadow Play art Installation on Deep Fork Trail, Commissioned by City of
Oklahoma City,
Slate Design mural, Omaha, Nebraska
ACLUOK art Commission, Oklahoma City OK
Architecture Firm mural, Durham, North Carolina
Veterinary Clinic mural, Edmond, OK
Firehouse Art Center mural, Norman, OK
Baile Folklorico Sculptures(3), Capitol Hill, Oklahoma City, OK
2023
Echo Investments medical mural, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Poor Yorick Studios mural - SLC Mural Festival, Salt Lake City, Utah
Water Tower mural wrap, Bricktown, Oklahoma City, OK
2022
Echo Investments mural, Downtown Oklahoma City, OK
Pepper and Devaughn mural, Oklahoma City, OK
2021
Asian District mural, Oklahoma City, OK
Adair Law mural, Manhattan, Kansas
Wonderhaus mural, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
2020
The Unexpected Us (with Gabriel Friedman) — Oklahoma Contemporary,
Scissortail Park, Oklahoma City,
Echo Investments mural, Downtown Oklahoma City, OK
Stella mural, Midtown Oklahoma City, OK
Uhills mural, Uhill Mural Festival Durham, North Carolina
Peak (Indoor and outdoor)mural, Oklahoma City, OK
North Peak mural, North Oklahoma City, OK
Well well.. mural, Plaza Walls Mural Festival Oklahoma City OK
2019
Communa 13 mural, Medellin, Colombia
Life In the Light mural I and II -West Village Parking Garage mural, Film Row, Oklahoma
City, OK
I See You-Habit Mural fesGval, Tulsa, Oklahoma
Peak indoor mural, Oklahoma City, OK
2018
Oklahoma Contemporary mural, Oklahoma City, OK
It Can Beau'ful -Lyric Theater mural, Oklahoma City, OK
2017
Fundamental Plaza Walls mural fesGval, Oklahoma City, OK
Mural Fest 66, Miami, Oklahoma
Paseo Plunge mural, Oklahoma City, OK
2016
Plaza Walls mural, Oklahoma City, OK
The Drawing Room mural, Kochi, India
HONORS & RESIDENCIES
2024
Putnam City Foundation Wall of Fame Induction
Oklahoma History Archives Community Impact Award
Vice President Kamala Harris AAPI Heritage Night Market Artist
2021 to present City of Oklahoma City Art Commissioner
2019
Paseo Artist of the Year, Oklahoma City, OK
2010
Hope for a Cure Artist for President George H. W. Bush, Washington, D.C.