American Crib: What's Happening?
Featured Works
Alberto Ayala
Medium & Materials:
acrylic on wood
Description:
Portrait of Roberto Lugo's grandfather.
Billie Holiday and Matthew Henson Vase
Medium & Materials:
terracotta, china pain, luster
Description:
Billie Holiday (1915-1959) – jazz and swing singer and songwriter, whose talent and skill expanded Jazz and musical concepts related to tempo and rhythm is on the reverse of the urn on the mantle.
Matthew Henson (1866-1955) – arctic explorer with a total of 18 years on expeditions, noted as the first of his party to reach the North Pole
Maribel and Child
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, acrylic, enamel, birch, pine, and laquer
Description:
In 15th century Florence, Italy, Luca della Robbia (1400–1482) developed a glazing technique for sculpture characterized by brilliant opaque whites and deep cerulean blues that retained their original vibrancy and color for centuries. This tin-glazed terracotta technique was passed down in generations of the della Robbia family, catapulting the family name into the canon art history and solidifying their impact for years to come.
Lugo draws inspiration from this renowned family adding contemporary elements to the methods and content. The title is a mash up of his nickname, Robske, and the famous family name. Lugo continues the Della Robbia family tradition of creating portraiture of both sacred and secular themes by mixing the two in his own work. In Maribel and Child, a play on the Della Robbia Madonna and Child, Lugo depicts his mother as Mary and himself as Christ. Lugo also alters the series by adding shadow to the pure porcelain, giving it additional depth, while maintaining vibrant colors, accentuating these with golden accents.
Roundel with Bust of Poet
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, acrylic, enamel, birch, pine, and laquer
Description:
In 15th century Florence, Italy, Luca della Robbia (1400–1482) developed a glazing technique for sculpture characterized by brilliant opaque whites and deep cerulean blues that retained their original vibrancy and color for centuries. This tin-glazed terracotta technique was passed down in generations of the della Robbia family, catapulting the family name into the canon art history and solidifying their impact for years to come.
Lugo draws inspiration from this renowned family adding contemporary elements to the methods and content. The title is a mash up of his nickname, Robske, and the famous family name. Lugo continues the Della Robbia family tradition of creating portraiture of both sacred and secular themes by mixing the two in his own work. Lugo also alters the series by adding shadow to the pure porcelain, giving it additional depth, while maintaining vibrant colors, accentuating these with golden accents.
Maria of the Block
Medium & Materials:
acrylic on canvas
Description:
In direct reference to the Renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks (or Madonna of the Rocks, c. 1485) Lugo again replaces sacred characters with those of his own life. In the original painting all the figures are kneeling to adore the infant Christ, who in turn raises his hand to bless them. In Lugo’s, he depicts himself as Christ, is Additionally, we once again see his mother, Maribel, as the Virgin Mary, and his cousin as Saint John the Baptist, throwing up an iconic hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan hand gesture.
Candelabra
Medium & Materials:
ceramic
Quest Love vase
Medium & Materials:
ceramic
Description:
Questlove (Ahmir Thompson b. 1971) – the Grammy and Academy Award-winning musician, producer, filmmaker, author, and DJ, is also the co-founder of Philadelphia hip hop group The Roots. His book, Hip-hop is History, is in the library on the North wall of the exhibition. His portrait is on one of the urns beneath the painting, Maria of the Block.
Putti I
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Putti II
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Putti of the Arch
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Putti Stunting Paperweight I
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Description:
Loaned from the collection of Karen Connell
Putti Stunting Paperweight II
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Description:
Loaned from the collection of Karen Connell
Septa Seat
Medium & Materials:
acrylic on wood
Description:
Septa Train Tableau with Mantle and Mirror
With his reimagining of René Magritte’s La durée poignardée (Time Transfixed), 1938, Lugo asks viewers to consider Magritte’s original desire to elicit “poetic secrets” through his works, by tapping into the thought provoking composition of two heavily contrasting objects and expanding it further by creating the piece to be functional. Although the original fireplace is domestic and the train is industrial, they were linked by the smoke. Lugo plays with this by removing that physical connection and proposing the viewer as the connection - with more native Philadelphia imagery of a septa train car in place of Magritte’s steam engine, and a purely aesthetic mantle adorned with garniture both personal and familiar.
Juicy Drank Teapot
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Description:
Biggie Smalls (1972-1997) – American rapper and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, can be found on the teapot on the mantle.
Malcolm X Teapot
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Description:
Malcolm X (1925-1965) – revolutionary and Black nationalist leader, an essential voice of the civil rights movement in the United States. Lugo memorializes him on a teapot in the Tea Service area.
Ralph Ellison Teapot
Medium & Materials:
glazed stoneware, luster
Description:
Ralph Ellison (1913-1994) – writer, literary critic, and scholar best known for his novel Invisible Man, featured on the bookshelf along with a biography on his life titled Ralph Ellison. Lugo memorializes him on a teapot in the Tea Service area.
Abuela Couch
Medium & Materials:
wood, fabric
Description:
With fabric deigned by Lugo and custom upholstered to a vintage couch frame.
Fire Hydrant I
Medium & Materials:
glazed 3D printed ceramic
Fire Hydrant II
Medium & Materials:
glazed 3d printed ceramic
Pigeon Tile
Medium & Materials:
ceramic
Black Graffiti Teapot
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Red Graffiti Teapot
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Nikki Giovanni Painting
Medium & Materials:
acrylic on canvas
Potpourri Boat
Medium & Materials:
ceramic
Nuggie Sauce
Medium & Materials:
acrylic on wood
Butter Dish I
Medium & Materials:
clay, underglaze, glaze
Butter Dish II
Medium & Materials:
clay, underglaze, glaze
Three Heads
Medium & Materials:
ceramic, metal stand
Flour Sugar and Adobo
Medium & Materials:
ceramic
Supported By
The mission of the Gelman Foundation is to provide support for emerging visual artists and the arts. To this end, the Foundation has supported and continues to support museums, exhibitions, art scholarships, inner city outreach programs for high school students, studio space and public art.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) funds and strengthens the nation’s creative capacity by providing all Americans with diverse opportunities for arts participation
The Decorative Arts Trust promotes awareness, encourages appreciation, and champions the study of the decorative arts and material culture through educational programs, communications, and grantmaking.
The Philadelphia Funder Collaborative for the Semiquincentennial exists to support Philadelphia-area programs celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
The foundation intends to make grants in support of projects which benefits the arts in general, including, without limitation, visual arts, literature, and the performing arts.
In-Kind Donations from
Committed to nurturing and sustaining the markets and careers of both emerging and established designers, as well as to maintaining and expanding commercial and academic interest in historical design
Dedicated to a quality found in objects and materials that have witnessed the passage of time; and honoring the character of everything we touch by uncovering each object’s unique story, exposing its hidden beauty, and giving it new life in modern design.
Making sure that the pieces that we acquire go on to bring enjoyment to new families for decades to come, while preserving furniture that is as enduring as the memories we make with our loved ones.
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