Bruce Lee 🤝 Tom of Finland
In the artwork shown here, Oscar yi Hou performs the role of Kato, the sidekick and valet of the protagonist in the 1960s television show “The Green Hornet.” The actor, Bruce Lee, insisted on portraying Kato as a masterful martial artist to counter his subservient role. In homage to Lee, and in reference to the homoerotic art of Tom of Finland, the artist portrays Kato as queerly hypermasculine, destabilizing our perceived notions of masculinity.
See each of yi Hou’s 11, unique paintings as part of Oscar yi Hou: East of sun, west of moon through September 17.
🎨 Oscar yi Hou (born Liverpool, UK, 1998). Cowboy Kato Coolie, aka: Bruce’s Bitch, 2021. Oil on canvas, 28 1/8 × 22 in. (71.4 × 55.9 cm). Private collection. © Oscar yi Hou. (Photo: Jason Mandella, courtesy of James Fuentes LLC)

















