Roberto Lugo on mixing hip hop into the ceramic canon

Today on the Tales of a Red Clay Rambler Podcast I have a discussion with multimedia artist Roberto Lugo. His current body of ceramic vessels uses portraiture, graffiti inspired patterns, and hip hop aesthetics to investigate notions of personal identity and belonging. He currently has an exhibition at the Wexler Gallery titled Defacing Adversity: The life and times of Roberto Lugo. The show listing perfectly describes the intent of Roberto’s work. “By combining graffiti, hip hop, history, pop culture and porcelain, Lugo is bringing new conversations to the table of contemporary art.” For more information on the exhibition visit www.wexlergallery.com.

Potter, painter, rapper, husband, father, and educator are just a few of the hats Roberto wears in the course of his daily life. He currently lives with his family in Marlboro, VT where he teaches at Marlboro College. In the interview we talk about race, white privilege and guilt in the ceramics world, and transitioning to life in rural Vermont. For more information about Roberto please visit www.robertolugostudio.com.

This episode of Tales of the Red Clay Rambler is sponsored by FLM Studio in Petaluma, CA. This multipurpose studio offers workshops for Bay Area ceramic artists while also serving as the studio for Forrest Lesch Middelton. On June 4th and 5th I will be teaching a two day hands-on workshop titled from Flat to Functional. Join me for this exciting weekend to learn more about using foam molds to create hand built tableware. To register for this event visit www.flmceramics.com.