Professor Butter Beard and Roberto Lugo’s Ceramics
“Don't throw the past away,
You might need it some rainy day.
Dreams can come true again
When everything old is new again.”
- Peter Allen and Carole Bayer Sager
My Greek vase, more specifically, my oinchoe, proudly stands a mighty ten centimeters tall. In classic black-figure style, Artemis, the virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, and wild animals, captures a golden-antlered deer to pull her chariot as an eagle ferociously soars in to assist. This treasured ceramic miniature resides in a place of honor on top of my great-grandmother’s kitchen radio, lovingly secured within the velcro-clasped arms of one of my stuffed monkey guardian angels. I keep it constantly in view as I work at my laptop, reminding me who I am: an odd little man (most currently labeled the “love child of a Mexican sicario and Burl Ives”), hopelessly enamored with the artistic past, striving to obtain and share enlightenment while clumsily navigating this current journey in the present.
I live surrounded by found and treasured family memories: my grandmother’s bedside lamps and recipe books, my uncle’s rather disheveled teddy bear, my father’s doodles, drawings and collected pottery, my great-great-grandmother’s cedar chest carried with her from Scotland, and art. Lots and lots of art. I don’t consider myself a hoarder… yet. Just a collector of the creative past waiting for the Buddhist gods to magically gift me with a library, music room and conservatory.
This week, I was introduced to an artist whose thoughts and enthusiasm were whole-heartedly recognized by my past-appreciating soul. I was initially drawn into his clever and visually stunning pottery, and then, as I dug deeper, the connection intensified as I grew to understand and communicate with his motivations and influences.
Roberto Lugo is a Philadelphia-based artist, ceramicist, social activist, poet, and educator. According to his website bio, “Lugo utilizes classical pottery forms in conjunction with portraiture and surface design reminiscent of his North Philadelphia upbringing and Hip Hop culture to highlight themes of poverty, inequality, and racial injustice.”
Take a moment to soak in these extremely impressive accolades: Lugo holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Penn State. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2023 Heinz Award, a Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures award, a 2019 Pew Fellowship, a Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize, and a US Artist Award. His work is found in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The High Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Brooklyn Museum, the Walters Art Museum, and more.
But for me, it is Lugo’s re-interpretation of Classic Greek Pottery that draws me in like warm honey on a buttered biscuit. His 2023 debut solo showcasing reinterpretations of ancient ceramics in New York City “packed a lot of energy and echoes the distinctive voice of the ceramicist-activist,” writes Farah Abdessamad, for “The Observer.”
“The show,” continues Abdessamad, “takes a breathtaking turn in his “Orange and Black” series, in which Lugo imaginatively expresses personal narration via classically inspired amphorae.” The title of the series nods to black-figure Greek pottery painting, which peaked in ancient Athens between the 7th-6th century BCE. Lugo’s large black-figure amphorae are divided into multi-tier segments like comic strips, narrating different stories personal to the artist in a “remixing” of historical inspirations with motifs inspired by the street, like fire hydrants, children jumping rope, and loud graffiti.
“This is a very personal exhibition for me, the first time I’m predominantly sharing stories from my life,” Lugo said in an artist Q&A, adding, “I’m communicating in a more direct and literal way, whereas before, it was about my role as a potter and commemorating others.”
Teresa Heinz, the Heinz Family Foundation’s founder and chair, said in a statement, “Roberto’s powerful and moving body of work is both informed by a life story of struggle and infused with optimism and the vision that art can change how we understand our past and inform how we interpret the events in the world around us.”
The colors and forms of Lugo’s art inspired me to re-examine an aged culinary classic with a personalized modern approach. His chosen palate easily danced with mine, reinterpreted in warm caramel and rich dark chocolate, both secured on a sturdy foundation of Scottish shortbread. The hint of cinnamon in the crust and the surprise of chili powder in the chocolate provide my own bit of “bibbidy-bobbidy boo.” As I finished this writing, I thoroughly enjoyed two of these scrumptious morsels served on one of my grandmother’s antique glass plates, and offered up an encouraging wink to Artemis as she forever hunts her golden-antlered deer within the oinchoe forest.
Professor Butter Beard’s Millionaire’s Shortbread
32 Cookies
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
16 Tbsp (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream
½ cup light corn syrup
8 Tbsp (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
½ tsp salt
8 ounces (total) dark chocolate – 6 ounces chopped and 2 ounces grated
½ tsp chili powder (optional)
1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and create a foil sling for a 13” by 9” baking pan.
2) For the crust: Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Crumble the dough into the prepared pan and use your fingers to press in into an even layer. Dock the dough with a fork and then bake until lightly golden brown and firm, 25 to 30 minutes. Place the pan on a wire rack to cool and lightly press down the surface of the crust with a wide metal spatula. Let cool at least 20 minutes.
3) For the filling: Stir together the condensed milk, brown sugar, heavy cream, light corn syrup and butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until the mixture registers 236 degrees, 16 to 20 minutes. Pour over the cooled crust and spread to an even thickness. Cool for about 90 minutes.
4) For the chocolate: Melt 6 ounces of the chocolate in a double burner, or microwave on 50%, stirring every 15 seconds, until melted and smooth. Add the grated chocolate and chili powder and whisk until smooth. Pour over the filling evenly and then chill until the chocolate is just set, about 10 minutes.
5) Remove the cookie from the pan using the foil sling. Use a heated knife to cut into four 3 ¼” rectangles. Cut each rectangle into 8 equal pieces.
