Philadelphia Antiques Show 2018

51 “Century Vase,” Brooklyn Museum, accessed February 20, 2018, https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/713. 52 Elizabeth Essner, “Roberto Lugo Is Changing the World, One Teapot at a Time,” Modern Magazine , March 29, 2016, http://modernmag.com/roberto-lugo-is-changing-the-world-one-teapot-at-a-time/. 53 Elisabeth Agro, “Revival & Relevance: Innovating Ceramic Traditions in Europe and North America,” Narrative_Rewriting Ceramic Histories , GICB2017 International Ceramic Symposium (Korea Ceramic Foundation, 2017), 181-182. 54 Agro, 182. Roberto Lugo, American, born 1981 All about the Benjamins Century Vase 2016 Porcelain, china paint, gold luster 14 1/2 × 12 × 15 1/2 inches (36.8 × 30.5 × 39.4 cm) Purchased with funds contributed by The Women’s Committee and The Craft Show Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2016 2016-140-1 A ll about the Benjamins, a ceramic vase by Roberto Lugo (born 1981), further demonstrates the influence of the past on the work of contemporary artists, through its plentiful allusions to aspects of eighteenth-, nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first century American history and culture. Throughout his practice, Lugo uses both his deep knowledge of ceramic history and his technical and artistic abilities to advance a more inclusive vision of history. The form and decorative scheme of All about the Benjamins directly references the so-called Century Vases made by Karl H. L. Müller (1820–1887) at the Union Porcelain Works (1863–c. 1922) in Brooklyn. Müller made these vases to celebrate and commemorate the first century of the United States’ existence. The vases were displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, and depicted the nation’s technological advancements, historical achievements, and natural resources. 51 In All about the Benjamins and the other vases that Lugo made as part of his own Century Vase series, Lugo riffs on the themes presented in Müller’s vases. He began with a question, “What if I were to talk about the last hundred years and what it means to be a Puerto Rican, or what it means to be African American?” and concluded, “If I want to include my culture in the grander scheme of things, I should be referencing culture that already exists and then putting it my way—contributing a verse to the great play.” 52 The series is thus an imagined response commemorating important moments from the history and cultures of people of color and placing these highlights in conversation with canonical moments in American history. 53 Lugo structures this conversation on the vase by positioning a face in a circular pendant on each side. On one side is Benjamin Franklin, the quintessential representation of Revolutionary-era Philadelphia, depicted here with a bandana covering the lower half of his face. Lugo situates Franklin within a constellation of the rappers and songs that shaped his own childhood and adult life. Wu-Tang Clan is represented by the famous stylized “W” of the Wu-Tang Clan positioned at the bottom of Franklin’s bandana and the phrase “C.R.E.A.M.,” a title of one of the group’s songs, which stands for “cash rules everything around me.” The title of a song by Ace Hood, “Hustle Hard,” also appears around Franklin’s head, while “All about the Benjamins,” a phrase from Puff Daddy’s famous song “It’s All About the Benjamins,” is written beneath Franklin. 54 Here, Lugo plays with Franklin’s place in the pantheon of American revolutionary heroes. While Franklin’s image might be an expected part of any celebratory ceramic vase honoring figures in American history, Lugo subverts this assumption by depicting Franklin in an accessory often associated with gang culture, and by highlighting the associations with wealth for which Franklin is most frequently mentioned in rap music due to his appearance on the $100 bill. On the other side of the vase, Lugo includes his own self-portrait Roberto Lugo, All about the Benjamins W 130 W