Opening Reception for Sean 9 Lugo "Storyteller" Solo at Paradigm

Paradigm Gallery + Studio is pleased to present Storyteller, a solo exhibition featuring the newest body of work by Sean 9 Lugo, known for both his public and studio art practices. In this anecdotal exhibition, Lugo will be displaying the cinematic experiences he had growing up in East Coast urban cities in the 1990s through a variety of mediums: painting, collage, and illustration. As he recalls his adolescent meeting spots and made-up games, he rediscovers how he was first captivated by art and how it informs his practice today. Lugo strives to authentically represent the people and places in his stories, in a similar vein to the artists of the Golden Age of Illustration in the early twentieth century. Lugo studies the process of Howard Pyle and Saturday Evening Post covers by Norman Rockwell, and adapts them into new versions of nostalgic Americana starring the Black and Latine figures of Lugo’s youth. The everyday figures like the barber and street taggers become monumental in highly detailed arrangements, all charged with Lugo’s emotional attachments and familial connections.