Roberto Lugo

Roberto Lugo (b. 1981) was born in Philadelphia and exposed to prevalent drug use and gang activity in the 1980s. In an effort to establish security for his family, Lugo’s father biked to New Jersey every morning for more appealing job opportunities. Lugo has said, “When I sit at a potter’s wheel, I often think of my father’s bike tire spinning, and this metaphor has always had me reach for more.” His graffiti, painting and ceramics works speak to contemporary issues of gang violence, race, juvenile incarceration, and socio-economic depravity.

After earning a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Penn State, Lugo was invited to speak at the National Council of Education for the Ceramic Arts in Seattle, WA in 2011 and delivered a lecture entitled “Activism Through Ceramics.” The following year at the NCECA Conference held in Houston, Texas he delivered another lecture titled “From the Wheel to the Wall”, a presentation on how graffiti relates to ceramics. He was honored as NCECA’s Emerging Artist of the Year in 2015.

Lugo’s work has been featured in exhibitions at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2019 Pew Fellowship, a Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize, and a US Artist Award. His work is found in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The High Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Brooklyn Museum, Walters Art Museum, and more. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, PA.

THE NEVICA PROJECT IS ACTIVELY LOOKING TO BUY ARTWORK MADE BY ROBERTO LUGO.  IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN SELLING, PLEASE CONTACT US IMMEDIATELY.