Pepón Osorio

Pepón Osorio is an internationally recognized artist whose richly detailed work challenges the stereotypes and misconceptions that shape our view of social institutions and human relationships. The colorful, often riotous, installations for which he is best known are constructed from found objects and objects that he customizes or creates. With a wry sense of humor he probes sober topics: prison life, domestic violence, AIDS, poverty.

Osorio’s collaborative pieces develop from his immersion into a community—residents of urban ethnic neighborhoods, employees who provide social services, children in foster care—and the discussions that result. As he addresses difficult themes such as race and gender, death and survival, and alienation and belonging, Osorio asks his audience to reconsider their assumptions and biases. Jennifer González shows that although Osorio draws on his Puerto Rican background and the immigrant experience to create his work, his artistic statements bridge geographical barriers and class divides. 

To learn more about the A Ver: Revisioning Art History project, click here.