Roberto Lugo

  • Pulitzer: Kendrick and Gwendolyn, 2018
    Earthenware and china paint
    14 x 14 x 25 in
  • Pulitzer: Kendrick and Gwendolyn, 2018
    Earthenware and china paint
    14 x 14 x 25 in
  • A Century Of Black Music, 2018
    Porcelain and china paint
    13 x 9 x 16 in
  • A Century Of Black Music, 2018
    Porcelain and china paint
    13 x 9 x 16 in
  • Method Man and Jimi Hendrix, 2018
    Earthenware and china paint
    13 x 13 x 26 in
  • Method Man and Jimi Hendrix, 2018
    Earthenware and china paint
    13 x 13 x 26 in
  • Double Dribble Dragon, 2018
    White earthenware and china paint
    19 x 19 x 2.5 in
  • Double Dribble Dragon, 2018
    White earthenware and china paint
    19 x 19 x 2.5 in
  • Armed And Dangerous: W.E.B. Du Bois, 2018
    White earthenware and china paint
    19 x 19 x 2.5 in
  • Armed And Dangerous: W.E.B. Du Bois, 2018
    White earthenware and china paint
    19 x 19 x 2.5 in
  • 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
  • Roberto Lugo, ceramic artist and ghetto potter represented by Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia, PA
    Portrait Plate: GZA, 2015
    Porcelain, glaze, ceramic decal
    11 X 1 inches
  • Roberto Lugo, ceramic artist and ghetto potter represented by Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia, PA
    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

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Wexler Gallery // 201 North 3rd Street // Philadelphia PA 19106
p: 215 923-7030 f: 215 923-7031
Tuesday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm or Monday by Appointment