Benjamin Osorio Encarnacion was born in 1955 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. His artistic style spanned flamboyant, large-scale multimedia installations, commentary on cultural issues that included race displacement, community, loss and empowerment. He was a mixed-media artist. Known as Pepon Osorio, this artist was exposed to the proud Puerto Rican culture in his early years. This exposure and his contributions in working in the Bronx communities played a big part in influencing his art. Osorio shifted to New York in 1975. His award winning work is more often than not showcased in local communities before being exhibited in prestigious galleries across the work from South Africa to New York. Local shops display his installations. His exhibition of work between 1999 and 2000, Home Visits was promoted with an addition step of initially being displayed in the homes of several people. Installations created by Osorio are constructed in the form of plush large-scale collections of objects, which are connected through a central emotion or theme. Frequently, these displays are in the form of a three dimensional, multicolored collage of trinkets and ornaments that seem to be irrelevant. These are intermingled with video screens showing random snippets of film. These complex build of pieces are a... show more

Benjamin Osorio Encarnacion was born in 1955 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. His artistic style spanned flamboyant, large-scale multimedia installations, commentary on cultural issues that included race displacement, community, loss and empowerment. He was a mixed-media artist. Known as Pepon Osorio, this artist was exposed to the proud Puerto Rican culture in his early years. This exposure and his contributions in working in the Bronx communities played a big part in influencing his art. Osorio shifted to New York in 1975. His award winning work is more often than not showcased in local communities before being exhibited in prestigious galleries across the work from South Africa to New York. Local shops display his installations. His exhibition of work between 1999 and 2000, Home Visits was promoted with an addition step of initially being displayed in the homes of several people. Installations created by Osorio are constructed in the form of plush large-scale collections of objects, which are connected through a central emotion or theme. Frequently, these displays are in the form of a three dimensional, multicolored collage of trinkets and ornaments that seem to be irrelevant. These are intermingled with video screens showing random snippets of film. These complex build of pieces are a reflection of ownership, displacement and loss. Osorio makes political statements using his art. Among his prominent works or art are Tina’s House created in 2000 featuring a tabletop depiction of a collection of real trinkets and possessions that were destroyed in a fire at a family’s house; and 700% Boricua created in 1991 featuring an ambiguous collection of joyful tourist mementos with statistics specifying the real problems that immigrants face written on them. He habitually uses the theme of dispossession that occurs with the uprooting of people from one situation or culture to another. This includes dealing with aloof manner projected by the government and concerns such as immigration. These mishmash sculptures are shaped out of actual memories and belongings of people. They contain the potency to induce an assortment of powerful emotions, ranging from the glum sensation of loss and disposition to the identification of humor, hope and vigor of the human spirit. Osorio is quoted to have said, “... what I wanted to do is to provoke change, not only socially but physically and spiritually.” Benjamin Osorio Encarnacion’s works of art include: La Cama (The Bed) created in 1987, EI Chandelier (The Chandelier) produced in 1988; 700% Boricua created in 1991 at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.; En la barber;a no se lIora (No Crying Allowed in the Barber Shop) created in 1996 part of the collection at the Tyler Galleries, Temple University, Philadelphia, U.S.; Las Twines produced in 1998 at the Storefront, South Bronx, New York, U.S.; Tina's House created in 2000 displayed in Home Visits; My Beating Heart produced in 2002 at the Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York, U.S.; Face to Face created in 2002 at the Ronald Feldman
Fine Arts, New York, U.S.; Trials and Turbulence produced in 2004 part of the collection at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
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