Pepón Osorio

Note: This event will be livestreaming via Zoom. Meeting ID: 961 5940 5420

Pepón Osorio is best known for his provocative large-scale installations that merge conceptual art and community dynamics. His visual language, explosive and elegant, challenges traditional art canons with richly textured monumental assemblages that travel far beyond accepted notions of beauty and aesthetics. He emphasizes the exhibition space as an intermediary between the social architecture of communities and the mainstream art world and incorporates a multiplicity of objects to recreate fantasy-like quotidian environments—from barbershops to home interiors and taxis—that advance critical discussions. Osorio has worked with well over 30 communities across the U.S. and internationally, creating installations based on the real-life experiences.  He has strategically placed his work at the center of daily activity in order to re-position the role of art and the artist in contemporary society. His work draws from his richly varied personal experience, nuanced observations of complicated human relationships, and the exploration of spatial relationships alongside the presence of human physicality and spirituality. As the Laura H. Carnell Professor at Temple University’s Tyler School of the Arts, Osorio has developed a successful teaching practice that engages art students to present work in unusual sites.  

Osorio’s work has been shown at El Museo del Barrio, NYC; Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, PA; Whitney Biennial at Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC; Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT; The Newark Museum, Newark; Africus Institute for Contemporary Art, Johannesburg Biennale, South Africa; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Santurce; Bronx Museum of Art, NYC; Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wilfredo Lam, Bienal de Cuba, Habana; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Institute of Contemporary Arts, Philadelphia; the 27th Sao Paulo Bienal, Brazil, Museum of Modern Art, New York City, NY; as well as storefronts and department stores. He is the recipient of various distinctions including a John D. and Catherine T. McArthur Foundation Fellowship, the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture; and the Alpert Award in the Arts–Visual Arts, and an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from The Maryland Institute and College of Art.  In 2017, he received the Pennsylvania Governor’s Distinguished Arts Award and became a recipient as a USA Knight Fellow awarded by United States Artists and the Guggenheim Fellowship. Most recently, he received the CAA 2018 Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement.  Osorio was featured in the first PBS Art21 series and was recognized with the Legacy Award from the Smithsonian Institute Latino Initiative, Washington, DC.

If you require any accessibility accommodation, such as live captioning, audio description, or a sign language interpreter, please email news@design.upenn.edu to let us know what you need. Please note, we require at least 48 hours’ notice. If you register within 48 hours of this event, we won’t be able to secure the appropriate accommodations.