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Roberto Lugo

A Century of Black Lives Mattering

Description

Maker

Roberto Lugo (American, b. 1981 in Philadelphia, PA to Puerto Rican parents)

Title

A Century of Black Lives Mattering

Year

2016

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

41.3 x 33 x 30.5 cm (16 1/4 x 13 x 12 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Museum purchase: gift of Joseph A. Chazan, MD

Object Number

2018.14

Type

Exhibition History

Exhibition History

Art and Design from 1900 to Now
Jun 04, 2022 – Sep 01, 2026

Label copy

This vase depicts eight Black boys and men whose lives were taken or brutally altered through the systemic violence of white supremacy: Mike Brown, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Alton Sterling, and Emmett Till. Injustices like these spurred the global Black Lives Matter movement.

Lugo wrote about this work’s intent in Manual 11:

Ceramics has the distinction of being a material that anthropologists use to tell us about what people were like thousands of years ago—it has the potential to keep the conversation going about these lost lives. It makes us account for the existence of people who are gone, and denies us the ability to forget about them. A Century of Black Lives Mattering presents the faces of some of the many people who have suffered from police brutality. I hope it will allow us to think about these lives for centuries to come.

–Elizabeth A. Williams, David and Peggy Rockefeller Curator of Decorative Art and Design

The Phantom of Liberty
Contemporary Works in the RISD Museum Collection
May 04, 2018 – Dec 30, 2018

Label copy

This piece was inspired by the recent losses of Black lives through controversial means. Through these tragedies, the statement “Black Lives Matter” was made popular and has created conversation about race equality in contemporary society. . . .

By creating an urn, I am creating an object that will live beyond current events. In the same way that royalty has been given tribute in the past, I am paying homage to these lives by placing their images on this piece. My claim is that all of humanity is equal. Rather than take a side, my work hopes to appeal to reverence for all lives lost regardless of race, in the belief that we are all kings. -Roberto Lugo

Paula and Leonard Granoff Galleries
Dec 18, 2015

Related Publications

Related Publications

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Tombstone

Roberto Lugo (American, b. 1981 in Philadelphia, PA to Puerto Rican parents)
A Century of Black Lives Mattering, 2016
Porcelain with enamel and glaze
41.3 x 33 x 30.5 cm (16 1/4 x 13 x 12 inches)
Museum purchase: gift of Joseph A. Chazan, MD 2018.14

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