Pepón Osorio
Summary
TLDRThe artist discusses their work, which embraces contradiction and explores themes of race, machismo, and displacement. They recount a childhood memory involving a traumatic haircut, which inspired a piece reflecting on African heritage and the challenges of identity. The artist's installations aim to provoke uncomfortable reactions, challenging viewers to confront their own perspectives. They also describe a project involving plastifying a house to challenge stereotypes and a mission to renew their artistic philosophy, culminating in a piece telling the story of a family's loss and resilience.
Takeaways
- 🎨 The artist discusses their work as being subversive and embracing contradiction, suggesting that beauty can coexist with a range of emotions.
- 💇 'No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop' is a piece that recreates a childhood memory and addresses the intersection of race and rites of passage.
- 👨🎨 The artist's father, of African descent, was a significant influence, being a creative individual who painted and crafted items from wood.
- 🏭 Coming from a working-class background, pursuing art was not initially a viable option, leading the artist to work as a social worker while also creating art.
- 🛠 The artist's installations aim to be overpowering and often provoke aesthetically uncomfortable reactions, challenging viewers to confront themselves and the work.
- 🚫 'Scene of a Crime' was an exhibit that used barriers to create sacred spaces, forcing viewers to reflect on their relationship with the Latino community.
- 🏡 The artist has done public art projects in various settings, including barbershops, taxi cabs, and basketball courts, aiming to provoke change on multiple levels.
- 👪 'State of Preservation' was a project where a wealthy family's home was plastified for three months, exploring stereotypes of the Latino family.
- 🏠 The artist's work often involves visiting homes to create art, drawing from the religious tradition of visiting saints and seeking to bring contemporary art into domestic spaces.
- 🔄 The artist feels a sense of displacement, which they have been able to resolve through their art, finding their own place and mission in the art world.
Q & A
What is the artist's approach to contradiction in their work?
-The artist embraces contradiction and believes it can coexist with beauty, anger, and different emotions.
What event from the artist's childhood is depicted in 'No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop'?
-The artist's traumatic experience at the age of 5 when getting their hair cut by a barber who was not used to dealing with kinky hair.
How does the artist's work 'No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop' address issues of machismo and race?
-The work deals with the issue of machismo and the artist's African descent, highlighting the displacement from their community and the intersection of race and rites of passage.
What was the artist's father's contribution to their artistic development?
-The artist's father, of African descent, was a creative individual who painted and made wooden articles, inspiring the artist's interest in art.
Why did the artist initially not consider being an artist as a viable option?
-Coming from a working-class family, being an artist was not considered a viable option, and the artist initially worked as a social worker.
What is the significance of the artist's installations being 'overpowering'?
-The artist creates installations that are overpowering to provoke an aesthetically uncomfortable reaction, aiming to make viewers confront themselves and reflect on the issues presented.
How does the artist's work 'Scene of a Crime' challenge the audience's perception of space and access?
-The work delineates specific spaces with a yellow ribbon, restricting access and forcing viewers to reflect and confront themselves about the issues presented.
What is the purpose behind the artist's public art projects in non-traditional settings like barbershops and basketball courts?
-The artist aims to provoke change not only socially but also physically and spiritually, using public art projects to engage different sectors of society and challenge their perceptions.
What was the concept behind the artist's project 'State of Preservation' in Santa Barbara?
-The project involved plastifying a wealthy family's entire house for three months, challenging stereotypical imagery of the Latino family and exploring the concept of preservation.
How does the artist's feeling of displacement influence their work?
-The artist's feeling of displacement is a recurring theme in their work, which they use to find their own place and create art that resonates with others who may share similar experiences.
What is the artist's mission and philosophy regarding their work?
-The artist has a clear mission to provoke change and create art that is meaningful and impactful, using their displacement as a source of inspiration and a way to connect with a broader audience.
Outlines
🎨 Artistic Expression and Identity
The artist discusses the challenges of defining their work due to its unconventional nature, embracing contradictions and the coexistence of various emotions. They recount a childhood memory of a traumatic haircut that symbolizes both a cultural rite of passage and a racial experience. The artist's work, 'No Crying Allowed in the Barbershop,' is a tribute to their father and explores themes of machismo and the displacement of African descendants. The artist's background as a social worker and the influence of their working-class family on their art are also highlighted, emphasizing the need to create installations that provoke thought and challenge societal norms.
🏡 Art as Social Commentary
The artist describes creating art that elicits uncomfortable reactions, using their work to confront societal issues. They recount an exhibition at the Whitney Museum that felt like bringing a piece of the South Bronx to Madison Avenue, highlighting the portrayal of the Latino community. The artist uses art to create sacred spaces that force reflection and confrontation, aiming to provoke change socially, physically, and spiritually. They discuss the importance of engaging with different sectors of society to gather information and create art that reflects both personal and societal perspectives. The artist also shares personal stories, including the impact of family struggles and the desire to provoke thought and change through their work.
🔄 Art and Displacement
The artist reflects on the theme of displacement, both personally and within their art. They discuss a project that involved plastifying a house to explore stereotypes of the Latino family. The artist's own feelings of being eternally displaced are contrasted with their ability to find a place within the art world. They express a clear mission for their work, aiming to provoke thought and change. The artist also talks about the idea of art visiting homes, inspired by religious traditions, as a way to renew their mission and philosophy towards art.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Contradiction
💡Machismo
💡Displacement
💡Aesthetically Uncomfortable
💡Installation Art
💡Cultural Identity
💡Memory and Nostalgia
💡Social Work
💡Public Art
💡Renewal
💡Storytelling
Highlights
The artist's work embraces contradiction, suggesting it can coexist with beauty and various emotions.
The artist recreates a childhood memory of getting a hair cut, which was meant to be a celebration but turned into a traumatic event.
The experience in the barber shop was a combination of race and a rite of passage into manhood.
The artist's father, of African descent, was a creative individual who painted and made wooden articles.
Being an artist was not considered a viable option for the artist, coming from a working-class family.
The artist used to work as a social worker, always having a backup plan in case their artistic pursuits didn't work out.
Installation work is the artist's chosen medium to create spaces that provoke aesthetically uncomfortable reactions.
The artist's work 'Scene of a Crime' was displayed at the Whitney Museum, symbolizing the Latino community's portrayal.
The artist creates art that reflects on societal issues and confronts viewers with their own perspectives.
The artist has done public art projects in various settings, including barber shops, taxi cabs, and basketball courts.
The artist's project 'State of Preservation' involved plastifying a wealthy family's home to challenge stereotypes.
The artist's work often involves visiting homes and creating art that tells a story, inspired by religious traditions.
The artist's mission is to provoke change not only socially but also physically and spiritually.
The artist feels eternally displaced but has found a sense of place through their art.
The artist's work is driven by a clear mission and philosophy, aiming to find or create something meaningful.
The artist's narrative often includes personal stories, such as Tina and her daughters who lost their home to a fire.
Transcripts
[Music]
it's hard to explain to people what I'm
trying to do as an artist because I do
not fit the artist description and I'm
always doing everything so subverting on
like always
differently my
work deals a lot with
contradiction I I embrace contradiction
contradiction can coexist with beauty
can coexist with
anger can coexist with a different
emotions the human
[Music]
body
[Music]
in no crying aloud in the bar
shop it's about recreating my
memory when I was 5 years old my father
took me to get my first hair card right
around the
neighborhood what was meant to be a
celebration became a disastrous
[Applause]
event this Barber he was not used to
deal with kinky hair curly
hair I was crying a lot I was scared I
was um traumatized by the sound of the
hair clipping there was a combination of
race and right of of of Passage into
into becoming a little man and I think
that they both came together
[Music]
simultaneously no crying allow in the
Barb shop deals with the issue of
machismo but as a whole and as a whole
it can next to the universe
somehow the peace pays homage to my
father a man of African descent I often
feel that as people of African descent
we were completely displaced from from
the community that we come from which is
which is a contradiction but it makes
sense in puican
reality when he was about 8 or 9 years
years old I noticed that he painted the
ceiling of the House of his room it was
beautiful you know it looked beautiful
so later on I got happy he always
everything he wanted always to to he was
doing all kinds of Articles like uh Like
Houses
trucks cars and everything you know in
wood and we enjoy see him working
because I want him to make at least to
have a trade coming from a workingclass
family
being an artist is not an option it's
more of a challenge uh than anything
else I just cannot remember ever
saying I'm going to be an artist it was
not a possibility it was not an
[Music]
alternative I was working as a social
worker and I put that role in my pocket
I always had to have two things
happening simultaneously just in case
one didn't go good well then they had
the other one to
survive the only way that I can can
connect it's it's by doing installation
work because I feel that I needed to say
something that it had to be Beyond
something on the
wall I need to create a space that is
overpowering and I'm very much aware
that my work it's one that provides uh
aesthetically uncomfortable reaction in
many
people it's it's interesting because a
lot of the people ask me do you live
like this this is how your home is and
it isn't I am making a very calculated
Intervention when this piece the scene
of a crime was in at the Whitney Museum
it almost felt as if I have taken a
piece of the South Bronx and placed it
in the middle of Madison
Avenue the Latino Community has been
portrayed as one that is very accessible
and in specifically the scene of a crime
it has a yellow ribbon where people are
not allowed to come
in because I have delineated these very
specific spaces and very specific ific
issues has sacred
spaces and as you stand and you're not
allowed to come in then you need to
reflect and you need to confront
yourself almost as if I stand a giant
mirror right in front of
you every time I create a work of art
and I go into different other sectors of
society to gather
information and the work is created when
I bring together where I am and where
the rest of society is I just want to
know if this do we have to keep on
visiting you behind you know behind bars
or we going to live like a family
already
cuz you and you in jail and us two out
here you know Mom is probably a barely
making it you know what I'm
saying I used to get up in the middle of
the night to change your Pampers to you
pissed on me a couple of times you used
to cry and and I remember all of that I
remember the first words that came out
of your mouth was
Daddy I I didn't pass this year
cuz um there was one death after the
other and then you getting lacked up and
it was just like everything you know
just falling on me and but I would love
people to come out it's thinking who
they are in relationship to what they
had just
seen and start a negotiation not only
with the artwork but the public at large
you said that he's always fighting who I
am you everything where do I
stand I love you
Nelson very much aware that I'm that I
wanted to do is to provoke change not
only socially but physically and
spiritually let's get
you've um you've done public art
projects in barber shops in taxi cabs in
basketball courts is this the first time
you do a project within a domestic
setting no I I've worked in Santa
Barbara it was called state of
preservation it was about plastic and it
was about plastic I went with the whole
issue of the stereotypical imagery of
Latino family using plastic and I went
into this very open-minded family a very
wealthy family and we plastify the whole
house and they live like that for about
three three months every single precious
object was plastified and it was
incredible they were really open-minded
people home visits it's um Loosely
rooted in religious popular tradition of
the visiting Saint when I was a kid um
the we we were visited by the a niche of
a virgin of guadaloop sent by the
church and I thought what about the same
thing with Contemporary Art it almost
looks like there's flame in there like
there why can't Contemporary Art visit
one home after the other for the
week the idea of the new century it's
about a renewal for me I wanted to go
back and renew all the my mission My
Philosophy my way of looking at art and
I know there's something missing that I
wanted to find or create
again who's that in the front SAA that's
the
B telling a story telling the story of
how it happened the story is based on
Tina and her two daughters Tina lost her
house and all her possessions due to a
fire surely after it happened she put a
little blanket over the girl and you
know so there's a lot of stories inside
that the family told me I was intrigued
by the idea that I that I've gained so
much yet the possibility of losing it
all overnight so moving right along got
to take it to Another Place Another
opening I'm going to miss the house cuz
I've been here for a week and it's going
to feel funny having this space
opened since childhood I have felt that
somehow there is one piece amazing
um when I got to New York I I I I spoke
English but it wasn't good enough so
then I just felt that
somehow I
couldn't understand completely what was
going on but I got a picture of it but
it wasn't so good that it didn't get the
real picture of it and sometimes I feel
that I that I'm eternally you know
displaced that that I'm there but I'm
not right
there but I think that in in as an
artist I've been able to resolve one
thing to find my own
place I have a very clear
Mission I know exactly what I wanted to
do with my work and how my my
displacement somehow seems perfectly
fine for the people out there cuz there
are many of us in the same boat as I
am
fore
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