JUNE 25 – JULY 15, 2012
Residency # 146
Application Deadline: March 23, 2012

PEPÓN OSORIO, visual artist

Pepón Osorio, best known for large-scale installations, was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, in 1955. He was educated at the Universidad Inter-Americana in Puerto Rico and Herbert H. Lehman College in New York, and received an MA from Columbia University in 1985.

Pepón Osorio is best known for multimedia works that combine elements of popular culture, domestic life and performance in order to address political and cultural issues concerning Latino communities in the United States. Moving to New York in 1975 Osorio spent five years as a social worker in the Bronx and, influenced by this experience, he became interested in how art can effect social change by attending to social problems. Stating that his "principal commitment as an artist is to return art to the community,” his elaborate installations often evolve from an interaction with the neighborhoods and people among whom he is working. In fact, while he has exhibited internationally in museums and galleries, Osorio has also presented his works in storefronts, department stores, and private homes in many locations throughout the world. An example is “Tina’s House,” a project created in collaboration with a family recovering from a devastating fire. The house—a tabletop-size art piece—tells the story of the night of the fire and those affected, and is traveling the country in a series of “home visits.” A home visit invites a new family to live with the art work for a period of at least one week, allowing the story of “Tina’s House” to be told in many homes and environments.

Using a visual vocabulary that incorporates the colorful plethora of pop cultural knickknacks associated with a Latino aesthetic of embellishment and decoration, his work points up how issues of race, class, and economy affect the value that we place upon objects and images. In this merging of conceptual art and community dynamics, Osorio’s art embraces a cross-disciplinary approach where questions of cultural history, identity, and justice are brought to the fore.

Osorio has been the recipient of numerous awards, including grants and fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, A MacArthur Fellowship, and the Lila Wallace Arts Partners International Artist Program. His work has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art and El Museo del Barrio in New York, the Smithsonian Museum of American Art in Washington, D.C., and el Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico and El Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico. Pepón Osorio lives in Philadelphia.

Residency  Statement
I was once told that if you live long enough, you will be able to tell your own story. My particular interest is in creative processes and methodologies that transform personal experiences into visually compelling artworks.  The residency will give associate artists time and freedom to create linear or non-linear narrative works using personal imagery.  One-on-one and collective critiques will offer an opportunity to reveal deep connections between personal process and artwork.

Application Requirements
I am open to working with associate artists from any discipline that is committed to studio practice. My goal is for you to be able to complete a work by the end of the residency. Applicants should submit a biography and a short statement about your work.  In addition answer the following questions:  What influences your creative process? What knowledge do you need to start a piece? What do you resist most in your work? Please send up to 20 digital images (JPG) of recent work, video DVD, or sound  CD (10 minutes in duration).

FULL Scholarships to attend FREE are available for painters and sculptors (through The Joan Mitchell Foundation) and composers (through The Sally Mead Hands Foundation) for ALL accepted artists who submit ACA Financial Aid forms upon acceptance. Limited additional Financial Aid is available for writers through The Pabst Charitable Foundation for the Arts and the Atlantic Center for the Arts Advance an Artist Program.