Roberto Lugo - Wexler Gallery

Ghetto Krater, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint
17 x 17 x 36.5 in
Ghetto Krater, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint
17 x 17 x 36.5 in
Frederick Douglass Food Stamp Jar, 2018
Porcelain, china paint
18.5 x 18.5 x 34.75 in
Frederick Douglass Food Stamp Jar, 2018
Porcelain, china paint
18.5 x 18.5 x 34.75 in
Fred Shuttlesworth / Fab Five Freddy, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
10.5 x 6.5 x 17.5 in
Fred Shuttlesworth / Fab Five Freddy, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
10.5 x 6.5 x 17.5 in
Frederick Douglass and I, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
11 x 8.5 x 19.5 in
Frederick Douglass and I, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
11 x 8.5 x 19.5 in
2 Queens, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
10.5 x 7 x 18 in
2 Queens, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
10.5 x 7 x 18 in
Thurgood Marshall / W.E.B. Du Bois, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
16 x 8 x 18.5 in
Thurgood Marshall / W.E.B. Du Bois, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
16 x 8 x 18.5 in
Juanita Jackson Mitchell and Queen, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
11.5 x 7 x 18 in
Juanita Jackson Mitchell and Queen, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
11.5 x 7 x 18 in
Colin and a Queen, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
11 x 6.5 x 17 in
Colin and a Queen, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
11 x 6.5 x 17 in
Billie Holiday and Matthew Henson, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
10.5 x 7.5 x 17 in
Billie Holiday and Matthew Henson, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
10.5 x 7.5 x 17 in
Benjamin Banneker Teapot / Dr. Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
9 x 5.5 x 9 in
Benjamin Banneker Teapot / Dr. Lillie Mae Carroll Jackson, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
9 x 5.5 x 9 in
A Queen and I, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
8 x 6 x 11.5 in
A Queen and I, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint, luster
8 x 6 x 11.5 in
Sleeping With The Fishes, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
10 x 10 x 12 in
Sleeping With The Fishes, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
10 x 10 x 12 in
Slave Ship Potpourri Boat, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
9 x 3.5 x 11.5 in
Slave Ship Potpourri Boat, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
9 x 3.5 x 11.5 in
The Expulsion of Colin Kaepernick and John Brown, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, luster
24 x 24 x 47 in (vase is 24 x 24 x 35 in, lid is 12 x 12 x 13 in)
The Expulsion of Colin Kaepernick and John Brown, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, luster
24 x 24 x 47 in (vase is 24 x 24 x 35 in, lid is 12 x 12 x 13 in)
Obama and Me, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, luster
24 x 24 x 47 in (vase is 24 x 24 x 35 in, lid is 12 x 12 x 13 in)
Obama and Me, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, luster
24 x 24 x 47 in (vase is 24 x 24 x 35 in, lid is 12 x 12 x 13 in)
Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) / Freddie Gray Urn, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, gold luster
9 x 9 x 16.5 in
Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) / Freddie Gray Urn, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, gold luster
9 x 9 x 16.5 in
Whitney Houston / Shirley Chisholm Urn, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, gold luster
9 x 9 x 16 in
Whitney Houston / Shirley Chisholm Urn, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, gold luster
9 x 9 x 16 in
New Hope Found In Our Past, 2017
Porcelain, slip, luster
11 x 11 x 23 in
New Hope Found In Our Past, 2017
Porcelain, slip, luster
11 x 11 x 23 in
Ma Rainey and Blind Tom, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, luster
8.5 x 8.5 x 17.5 in
Ma Rainey and Blind Tom, 2017
Porcelain, china paint, luster
8.5 x 8.5 x 17.5 in
Hip Hop Bowl III, 2017
Porcelain, glaze
14 x 14 x 8.75 in
Hip Hop Bowl III, 2017
Porcelain, glaze
14 x 14 x 8.75 in
New Slaves: The Cycle Continues (Della Robske series), 2017
White earthenware, slip, china paint, luster
35 x 35 x 5 in
Jose and Child (Della Robske series), 2017
White earthenware, slip, china paint, luster
26.5 x 18.5 x 3 i
Portrait Plate: GZA, 2015
Porcelain, glaze, ceramic decal
11 X 1 inches
Portrait Plate: Ugod, 2015
Porcelain, glaze, ceramic decal
11 X 1 inches
New Slaves, 2017
Digital print on paper
Paper Dimensions: 66.25 x 44 in
Framed Size: 70.75 x 46.75 x 2 in
Panda: Eats Shoots And Leaves, 2017
Digital print on paper
Dimensions: 41.5 x 55.25 in
Framed Size: 44.5 x 58.25 x 2 in
Sibby Sevres, 2018
Porcelain, china paint, luster
8.5 x 6.5 x 15 in
Right On, 2018
Terra cotta, china paint
10.5 x 7 x 6 in
Blood and Crip Salt and Pepper Shakers (Snap), 2017
Porcelain, slip
Heads: 3.5 x 5 x 5.5 in (each)
Shipping container stand: 4 x 11 x 4 in
Portrait Bust: Roberto Lugo, 2017 (Collaboration with Yelizaveta Massalimova Cunningham)
Porcelain, luster, underglaze, china paint
14.5 x 10 x 24 in

Artist Statement

I am a potter, social activist, spoken word poet, and educator. All of these roles are rooted in my childhood. Having had no formal music or art training, I often practiced table drumming and writing hip-hop lyrics as it was customary to “battle rap” during lunch Instead of art class, I drew in my composition book, and marked every wall that I could. “Graffiti” was a way to get my name into the community, to attain a local fame.

Today my graffiti is defacing social inequality I teach communities to make mosaic murals to honor victims of gun violence. I see my pottery as a process of transforming the ground we walk on into something we eat from; we search all day for the perfect spot to put it on display. In many ways this transformation of tragedy into triumph is a metaphor for my life’s story.

My experiences as an indigent minority inform my version of Puerto Rican American history. With my education in critical theory, art education, art history, and studio art I have developed a studio practice that fluidly communicates with diverse audiences. I bring art to those that do not believe they need to see it and engage in deeper ways of knowing, learning and thinking.

Read what the media has been saying about Roberto Lugo.

Artist CV and Other Documents

Download CV