Roberto Lugo facts for kids

Roberto Lugo (born 1981) is an American artist who creates amazing pottery. He is also a social activist, a poet, and a teacher. Lugo uses his art to share ideas about hip-hop, history, and his own background. He also talks about important social issues.

Roberto Lugo was born in Kensington, Philadelphia. His parents were from Puerto Rico. Before he started making pottery, he was a graffiti artist and a teacher. He studied art at the Kansas City Art Institute and Penn State. Today, he is a professor of ceramics at Tyler School of Art. His unique artworks have become very famous across the country.

Early Life and Art Beginnings

Roberto Lugo was born in 1981 in the Kensington area of Philadelphia. He was the third child of young parents who had recently moved from Puerto Rico. His mother, Maribel Lugo, was 21. His father, Gilberto, was a Pentecostal preacher. His father had only a middle school education. He had worked in sugar cane fields in Puerto Rico since he was a child.

To find better jobs, Roberto's father often rode his bike to work in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Roberto thinks of his father's bike when he works today. He says, "When I sit at a potter's wheel, I often think of my father's bike tire spinning." This idea makes him want to achieve more. His mother worked several part-time jobs to help support the family. She also took care of their three children.

Roberto was a quiet child. He was very religious and had a strong Spanish accent. He also had trouble reading. His teachers did not see his creative talents. They even called him a troublemaker on a school trip. As a teenager, he liked grunge rock and hockey. This was different from the salsa, rap, and baseball that other kids in his neighborhood liked. They sometimes called him "weird."

He did not have art classes in school. To fit in better, he started writing graffiti with his cousins. He used the tag "Robske" on his graffiti. He still uses this tag on all his art today. He believes graffiti started his art career. "I couldn’t make the pottery I make today if I hadn’t started doing graffiti as a teen," he said.

Roberto worked in different factories in Philadelphia. When he was 22, he moved to South Florida. He lived with family there and thought about his future. He saw college as a way to get a good job. So, he took a ceramics class at a community college. He was told that "real art" comes from personal experiences. He made art pieces like a fire hydrant. This reminded him of happy times showering in the street with his father. This happened on nights when their family's water was turned off. He said, "It was the first time in my life I was ever told I was good at anything." Art quickly became his passion. He felt it was very important right away.

Education and Artistic Voice

In 2007, Roberto briefly attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Then, he was accepted into the ceramics program at the Kansas City Art Institute. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in 2012. There, he learned a lot about the history of ceramics and anthropology. He was interested in how pots tell stories about past cultures.

He found connections between old ceramics and his own work. For example, lines of a leaf or flower on a Chinese pot looked like graffiti arrows. They had the same quick, artistic style as tagging. By drawing graffiti on his pottery with china paint, he could add his own style to ceramics history. He also realized that minority artists were not well represented in the art world. He saw that through his work, he could "speak on behalf of people where I come from."

Roberto created a work called Oppression. He felt sad and angry, and even guilty about his own situation. This piece shows the heads of two men of color. They are Lugo and his brother. Their heads sit on a Victorian teacart, like saucers for dripping cups. Lugo's brother was later released early from prison. He has since rebuilt his life and is doing well.

In 2013, Roberto explored the topic of people being in prison more directly. Photographer Richard Ross asked him to work together on Juvenile In Justice. This was an exhibition in Philadelphia about young people in prison. Ross takes photos of young people who are in jail. He had come to Penn State to review student work. Lugo brought his pots and waited for Ross outside the critique room. This led to their collaboration. This show, along with an artist residency in Hungary, was a big moment for Lugo's career. He felt strong and believed his voice was important to the ceramics community.

NCECA Conference 2015

This Machine Kills Hate from 2015 NCECA conference Emerging Artists Presentation

In late 2014, Roberto Lugo had just finished his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from Penn State. He learned he was chosen as an "Emerging Artist" for the 2015 National Council on Education in Ceramic Arts (NCECA) conference. The conference was held in Providence, Rhode Island. Lugo gave a very personal speech. It was part spoken word performance and part sermon. It really excited the crowd of nearly 5,000 people.

He talked about how pottery saved his life. He even showed an image of his pottery wheel with the words "This machine kills hate" painted on it. His speech earned him a standing ovation. He said, "I am proud to be a part of a community of people that honors the things I just talked about, that finds those things valuable… We’re a culture that can change the world." The video of his speech has almost 20,000 views online. Lugo has received many emails from people who saw his speech. They thanked him and shared similar experiences.

Roberto Lugo at the Philadelphia Clay Studio

Recent Work and Impact

After the NCECA conference, a gallery in his hometown contacted Lugo. This was the Wexler Gallery in Old City, Philadelphia. This gallery now represents Lugo. They had their first solo show with him in June 2016. It was called Defacing Adversity: The Life and Times of Roberto Lugo. Like all of Lugo's art, Defacing Adversity explores issues of social justice, politics, race, and poverty. He shows these ideas through beautiful, historically inspired ceramic forms.

Lugo combines graffiti, hip-hop, history, pop culture, and porcelain. He brings new discussions to the world of contemporary art. The Wexler Gallery supports him in challenging traditional art ideas. In 2021, Lugo's ceramic piece Digable Underground was shown at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This artwork featured Harriet Tubman and Erykah Badu. It showed them thinking about how the kitchen brings people together.

Besides creating art for his own shows, Lugo has been very busy. He has completed several short art residencies. One was at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia, and another at Baltimore Clayworks. He gives lectures to new ceramic artists and schools across the country. He also visits different places as an artist. In 2015, he started teaching at Marlboro College in Vermont. He wanted to teach in a place that wanted to become more diverse. He has also shown his work at many exhibitions. These include SOFA Chicago and a solo show at Eutectic Gallery in Portland, Oregon.

Lugo also continues to work for social justice in other ways. He makes video diaries on social media. In these videos, he talks about race relations in the US. He also discusses diversity in the art field. He inspires young artists to speak up for change. He has also helped social change groups like The Democratic Cup. Roberto Lugo is currently an assistant professor of art at Tyler School of Art.

Film About Roberto Lugo

A film called “Without Wax” was released in the Fall of 2019. It was directed by Cyrus Duff and produced by Edward Columbia. IMDb describes the film: “Past and present intertwine in this boundary-pushing cinematic documentary about world-renowned ceramics artist Roberto Lugo.”

Lugo's Unique Art Style

Roberto Lugo's art has been compared to other famous artists. For example, Kehinde Wiley paints portraits of young people of color in heroic poses. Lugo's work is also like Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton. Hamilton uses hip-hop to tell the story of the American Revolution.

Lugo's pottery often looks like historical ceramic patterns. He especially likes Royal Worcester porcelain. He puts images of poverty and social injustice next to this fancy porcelain. This helps to highlight these important issues. Lugo's art pieces mix different cultures. They are traditional European and Asian porcelain shapes. But he reimagines them with a modern, street-art feel.

His hand-painted surfaces have classic patterns and designs. These might be like patterns found on bandanas. He combines these with modern urban graffiti. He also paints striking portraits of people you might not expect to see on fancy luxury items. These items were historically made for the rich. But Lugo paints people like Sojourner Truth, Cornel West, and Erykah Badu. He also paints his family members and often himself. Faces framed by colorful patterns are common. Sometimes, these patterns are a strong contrast. For example, a Confederate flag might surround the faces of people who have faced racial discrimination. Lugo's art is very direct. He shares strong messages with delicate brushstrokes.

Exhibitions

Lugo's work is part of the Before Yesterday We Could Fly exhibition. This is an Afrofuturist Period Room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Family Life

Roberto Lugo has two sons. He lives and works in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.