P·P·O·W is pleased to announce the representation of multi-disciplinary artist Pepón Osorio. Born in 1955 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Osorio moved to the South Bronx in 1975. Informed by his background in theater and performance as well as his experiences as a child services case worker and a professor, Osorio has pioneered a form of artmaking which links aesthetics with social engagement. Deliberately recontextualizing familiar objects in his elaborate, theatrical environments, Osorio’s installations create a discourse surrounding political and cultural injustices affecting Latinx and working-class communities. Developed through long-term conversations and collaborations, Osorio’s work is further distinguished by creating and displaying his installations with and in a community before ever entering an art institution. Reflecting on this, Osorio notes, “I never knew that art could take an institutional form. I always thought - and still think - you make art for the immediacy, for the people around you.”
This summer, the New Museum will present Pepón Osorio: My Beating Heart/Mi corazón latiente, the most comprehensive exhibition of Osorio’s work to date. Spanning the 1990s to now, this exhibition, organized by Margot Norton and Bernardo Mosqueira, will provide a unique opportunity to experience Osorio’s new works alongside seminal projects such as No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop (En la barbería no se llora), 1994, and Badge of Honor, 1995, together for the first time, introducing a whole new generation to his groundbreaking practice. “Working with Pepón Osorio is a great honor for the gallery,” says P·P·O·W co-founder Wendy Olsoff. “We were very much aligned with Ronald Feldman and his eponymous gallery which represented Pepón for over 20 years. We look forward to integrating Pepón’s radical and inspiring work into our history of representing estates and living artists committed to creating art in conversation with social justice.”
Pepón Osorio (b. 1955) lives and works between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. He has presented solo exhibitions at Williams College Art Museum, Williamstown, MA; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA; Museo de San Juan, San Juan, PR; El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY; Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Houston, TX; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain; and Museo Alejandro Otero, Caracas, Venezuela, among others. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Los Angeles Museum of Modern Art, Los Angeles, CA; New Museum, New York, NY; El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY; MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY; 2006 São Paulo Biennial, São Paulo, Brazil; Center for the Arts at Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, CA; 1997 Bienal de La Habana, Havana, Cuba; 1997 Johannesburg Biennale, Johannesburg, South Africa; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan; Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, OH; and the 1993 Whitney Biennial, New York, NY. His works have also been shown in multiple storefronts, schools, theaters, and other unconventional exhibition spaces throughout the world. Osorio is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasure Artist Fellowship (2022); the Guggenheim Fellowship (2021); the United States Artists Fellowship (2018); the Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement from the College Art Association, CAA (2018); the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage Award (2006); the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture (2001); the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship (1999), and the Alpert Award in the Arts-Visual Arts (1999). P·P·O·W will present Osorio’s first solo exhibition with the gallery in 2025.