Bridges

Name/Title

Bridges

Entry/Object ID

2021.0001.0001

Description

This ceramic vase is 30 inches high and 22 inches wide and sits on a graffitied pedestal. A portrait of Roberto Lugo’s father, Gilberto Lugo, is on one side, and a portrait of Penn founder Benjamin Franklin is on the other. A ceramicist, social activist, poet, painter, and professor, the artist placed this work at the center of his exhibition God Complex: Different Philadelphia, at Penn’s Arthur Ross Gallery in the fall of 2021. “It became this centerpiece for how I would think about the rest of the work, these relationships between different Philadelphias, two really different experiences,” Lugo said at the exhibition opening. “My Philadelphia exists in the same Philadelphia that Penn exists in.” In giving the artwork to the University, Lugo said: “To think about my father being in Penn’s collection is really inspiring for me…. I’m really proud of that.”

Made/Created

Artist

Roberto Lugo

Date made

2019

Dimensions

Dimension Description

Size

Height

30 in

Width

22 in

Depth

22 in

Web Links and URLs

Penn Today

Exhibition

2021.09: God Complex: Different Philadelphia