Trials and Turbulence: Pepon Osorio

This exhibition culminates Pepón Osorio's three-year Artist-in-Residence at the Philadelphia Department of Human Services (DHS). A former social worker and 1999 MacArthur Fellow, Osorio (b. Santurce, Puerto Rico, 1955; lives Philadelphia) conceived of this volunteer project as a series of interventions aimed at opening up the traditionally closed system. Working closely with DHS social workers, administrators, and clients, Osorio focused on the foster care system to conduct an institutional critique at one of the most vulnerable intersections between private life and public policy. The show transforms the first floor galleries at ICA into a total DHS living- and working-environment. It is composed of a group of environmental tableaux based on what the artist refers to as social architecture. Face to Face (2002) represents the open plan offices at DHS with each cubicle, from its coffee cups and personal mementos, portraying people who work there. Standing in for the caseworkers clients, is a towering cage of an actual family s possessions, borrowed from DHS storage. A second installation Trials and Turbulence (2004) recreates a Family Courtroom, where a young adult confronts the judge who sentenced her to the foster care system. Charged with realism, Osorio's imagery of a government system at work, along with the potential for reconciliation and awareness, are enhanced by the art gallery as a context for abstraction and contemplation. This exhibition is organized by ICA's Senior Curator, Ingrid Schaffner, and Curator of Education, Johanna Plummer. ICA acknowledges generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, University of Pennsylvania Diversity Fund, Kenneth Goldenberg - Goldenberg Realty, and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc. Additional funding has been provided by The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Dietrich Foundation Inc., the Overseers Board for the Institute of Contemporary Art, friends and members of ICA, and the University of Pennsylvania. Pressetext

Trials and Turbulence: Pepon Osorio, An Artist in Residence at DHS