March 31 through April 28, 2019
The Hamilton Mansion at The Woodlands
In the exhibition Graffiti & Ornament, artists Roberto Lugo and Leo Tecosky created site-responsive works at The Woodlands’ historic Hamilton Mansion in West Philadelphia. Bridging past histories of Philadelphia with the present, the site-specific exhibition connected a carved 19th century graffiti inscription at The Woodlands to these two contemporary artists who embrace graffiti and hip-hop culture within their artistic practice. The exhibit was curated by Elizabeth Essner and organized by Past Present Projects of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia
Graffiti & Ornament was inspired by an inscription from 1876 found on the South Portico. Essner believes “This historical graffiti is especially resonant in the context of the Woodland's cemetery grounds where the house is surrounded by carved names and dates of people whose lives are remembered. It is a tangible reminder that history is made up of individual lives. Some are made visible, carved into stone, so to speak, and then there are others whose names and whose histories deserve more light shined on them.
About the Artists & Past Present Projects
Lugo in his studio. Photo by Ryan Collerd.
Artist, activist, and self-titled ‘ghetto potter,’ Roberto Lugo was born in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood. For Graffiti & Ornament, Lugo told the story, he says, of “my side of Philly.” As professor of ceramics at the Tyler School of Art, Lugo’s vessels recall traditional ceramics while inserting his Puerto Rican heritage and his personal and cultural heroes into the work. Lugo’s work bears witness to histories that have often been excluded, and as a result, reshapes the narrative of ceramics. Graffiti often becomes the ornament on his vessels, which depict portraits that range from hip-hop stars the Wu-Tang Clan, to poet Gwendolyn Brooks. For Graffiti & Ornament, Lugo will create monumental vessels to memorialize those from his Kensington community, echoing the wooded cemetery that surrounds the Hamilton mansion.
Website: www.robertolugostudio.com
Tecoksy in his studio. Photo provided by the artist.
Artist Leo Tecoksy’s sculptural glass and neon pieces for Graffiti & Ornament created a multifaceted homage to his grandmother Evelyn Rose Tecosky, a life-long Philadelphia resident whose Depression glass collection inspired the artist’s own work in glass. Sited around the mansion’s stately bay windows, Tecosky’s installations of hanging glass arrows, stars, and crowns reflected traditional chandeliers and graffiti graphics, their pale colors a nod to his grandmother’s Depression glass. Evelyn, his grandmother’s name, was transformed into graffiti-influenced neon sculptures. Finally, a hand-blown and etched lamp cast patterns and language onto the mansion’s dining room walls, using light to layer the contemporary era onto the house’s celebrated neoclassical interior.
Website: www.leotecosky.com
Graffiti & Ornament was organized by PAST PRESENT PROJECTS (PPP) of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia, a nonprofit arts organization that believes that historic house museums and landmarks are potent community resources and that the best way to preserve them is to engage audiences within these resonant sites.
Website: www.pastpresentprojects.org
Press about Graffiti & Ornament
“The New Art Galleries: Urban Cemeteries” | CityLab: Design, Allison C. Meier, April 18, 2019
“These pieces could be installed in a white-walled gallery, but having them in a cemetery, with tombstones visible outside the windows, makes the artists’ statements on remembrance particularly powerful. Exhibitions like this one can also elevate narratives that were marginalized or banished from cemeteries that historically reserved the grandest memorials for white, wealthy families.” Read the full article.
“The Woodlands presents Roberto Lugo and Leo Tecosky’s ‘Graffiti & Ornament’” | Broad Street Review, Gail Obenreder, April 2, 2019
““Graffiti” and “ornament” might be contradictions—one seemingly spur-of-the-moment, the other carefully designed and constructed. But it’s that very dichotomy that fascinates in the current site-responsive exhibition Graffiti & Ornament at the Woodlands.” Read the full article.
“Building Bridges: 'Graffiti & Ornament' Connects Philly's Past and Present Through Art” | 34th Street Mag, Jess Araten, April 9, 2019
“In showing Lugo’s and Tecosky’s works at Hamilton’s Mansion, Graffiti & Ornament consciously examines Philadelphia’s present relationship to its past.” Read the full article.
Exhibition Open Hours | Closed Sunday, April 21st
Wednesday - Thursday from 11am to 4pm | Friday - Sunday from 1pm to 6pm
Related Programs and Events
at the Hamilton Mansion
Lecture: Historical Graffiti with Michael Emmons
Saturday, April 6th from 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Ticketed Event
Family Program: Make Art with the Claymobile
Saturday, April 13th from 11:00am - 2:00pm
Free and open to the public
Neighbor’s Night
Wednesday, April 17th from 5:00pm - 7:00pm
Free and open to the public
Exhibition Tour
Saturday, April 27th at 1:00pm
Free, part of West Craft Fest
Closing Celebration
Sunday, April 28th from 1:00pm - 4:00pm
Free and open to the public
Graffiti & Ornament is generously funded by the Knight Foundation with additional support provided by the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.