Puerto Rico’s Art Offerings Are a Trove of Inspiration

The vibrancy of a destination is best translated by its own storytellers. This summer, Puerto Rico’s many facets come into brilliant focus through New York art exhibitions. At the New Museum, a comprehensive solo exhibition of multimedia specialist Pepón Osorio’s work, called “My Beating Heart/ Mi corazón latiente,” is on view through September 17. Meanwhile, multidisciplinary artist Daniel Lind-Ramos’s “El Viejo Griot — Una historia de todos nosotros (The Elder Storyteller—A Story of All of Us),” which highlights local traditions alongside the effects of Hurricane Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic, is showing at MoMA PS1 through September 4. (And earlier this year, Glorimar Marrero Sánchez’s lyrical film, La Pecera (The Fishbowl), stirred Sundance audiences.) “Among other elements, the found object, regardless of its origins, carries an intrinsic historical charge and potential symbolism, which, when placed in the context of a particular narrative, has the possibility to reveal unexpected meanings,” Lind-Ramos tells Vanity Fair. “The found object, different from other sculpture material, has the capacity of activating both the imagination and the memory.” Here, a treasure trove of items take inspiration from the island’s art and architecture.