Roberto Lugo’s Orange and Black exhibition will be on display at the Princeton University Art Museum’s Art@Bainbridge gallery from February 15, 2025, to July 6, 2025.
This exhibition pairs Lugo’s contemporary ceramic works with ancient Greek pottery from the museum’s collection.
Through this pairing, the exhibition explores how ceramics have been used as storytelling tools for thousands of years and how ancient forms can be reinterpreted to address modern social issues.
Roberto Lugo, born in 1981 in Philadelphia, is a Puerto Rican-American artist, activist, poet, and educator.
Growing up in North Philadelphia, Lugo’s childhood experiences with poverty and systemic inequality shaped his artistic voice.
He earned his BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Penn State University.
Today, his work has been featured in prominent museums, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
His accolades include the Pew Fellowship in the Arts, the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, and a US Artist Award.
Lugo’s pieces are in permanent collections from institutions such as the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.
The Orange and Black series, which is central to this exhibition, directly references ancient Greek ceramic traditions, such as the black-figure and red-figure techniques commonly used between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.
These ancient vessels often depicted mythological heroes, communal celebrations, and daily life, serving as functional objects and visual narratives.
Lugo adapts these forms and techniques to tell contemporary stories, celebrating modern heroes and exploring issues such as racial injustice, incarceration, and economic inequality.
His work brings figures like Harriet Tubman, Jackie Robinson, Ruby Bridges, and Sojourner Truth into the visual tradition of ceramics, which historically excluded individuals from marginalized communities.
One of the featured works, Same Boy, Different Breakfast (2024), is a hand-painted ceramic vase that contrasts two moments in a young man’s life.
On one side, the young man is shown sitting in his bedroom, symbolizing stability and hope.
On the other side, he is shown in a prison cell, revealing the harsh realities of systemic inequality and incarceration.
This modern piece is displayed alongside a 5th-century BCE Attic krater, a Greek vessel for mixing water and wine.
The krater features two sides: one depicting young men enjoying a symposium and the other showing them standing together in a social setting.
Placing these pieces side by side encourages people to explore how societies use art to tell stories about justice, community, and individual lives.
The exhibition also includes other works from Lugo’s Orange and Black series, such as vessels featuring portraits of prominent historical and cultural figures like Dr. Cornel West and The Notorious B.I.G., as well as scenes inspired by urban landscapes in North Philadelphia.
The pieces are known for their detailed designs, which combine the traditional patterns of ancient Greek pottery with modern imagery such as sneakers, graffiti, and city buildings.
Curated by Carolyn Laferrière, Associate Curator of Ancient Mediterranean Art, the exhibition thoughtfully compares ancient and modern ceramic art.
Visitors will see ancient Greek pieces such as an Attic black-figure amphora and a red-figure kylix, drawn from the museum’s extensive collection of over 117,000 works.
These ancient pieces were chosen specifically for their narrative qualities and connection to communal life themes and individual identity, providing a historical context for Lugo’s contemporary reinterpretations.
The Art@Bainbridge gallery, located at 158 Nassau Street in downtown Princeton, provides an intimate setting for the exhibition.
This satellite space allows visitors to engage closely with the details of the works on display.
While the Princeton University Art Museum’s main building is currently under renovation—it is slated to reopen in late 2025 with a new 145,000-square-foot facility—Art@Bainbridge continues to connect the community with art through innovative exhibitions.
In addition to the artworks, the exhibition includes a full lineup of public programs.
Roberto Lugo will show how he makes pottery in a live demonstration on a pottery wheel, letting visitors see his creative process in action.
A conversation between Lugo and curator Carolyn Laferrière will talk about his inspirations, how he creates his art, and the social messages in his work.
At the Princeton Public Library, Lugo will perform spoken-word poetry, showing how his storytelling goes beyond ceramics.
Additionally, a faculty panel of experts in art history, African American studies, and classical studies will discuss themes like representation, storytelling, and justice.
The exhibition and its programs are made possible through the generous support of multiple organizations.
Funding comes from the Virginia and Bagley Wright Program Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art, the Kathleen C. Sherrerd Program Fund for American Art, and the Curtis W. McGraw Foundation.
Additional support is provided by the Edna W. Andrade Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation and several Princeton University programs, including the Humanities Council, the Department of African American Studies, and the Program in Latin American Studies.
For those interested in seeing this unique and thought-provoking exhibition, Orange and Black will be open to the public free of charge at Art@Bainbridge.
More details about the exhibition and its programs can be found on the Princeton University Art Museum’s website.
