Sean 9 Lugo, Phrenologist, 2025, acrylic, marker, ink on paper in Moleskine sketch book 

Sean 9 Lugo: Storyteller
April 4 –  April 27, 2025

OPENING RECEPTION
Friday, April 4 • 6–8PM

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. 

The first time Lugo saw a Norman Rockwell piece was sitting in a pediatrician’s office as a child. Although he hated doctor visits, he was captivated by the posters of Rockwell’s illustrations, including the iconic piece of Ruby Bridges being escorted to school. He marveled at the narratives that were conveyed so vividly in Rockwell’s work, supported by seemingly trivial details that make up an entire person’s identity. In gratitude for the inspiration, Lugo has recreated his favorite Rockwell images in Storyteller to provide honest looks into his personal history. Calling to Rockwell’s piece of the same name, Lugo’s Phrenologist focuses on his neighborhood barber of Cuban heritage wearing Wallabee shoes and sporting a Roots album cover poster in the background. Lugo is compelled to showcase his own library of symbolism and references that audiences can stumble upon when viewing the work. Lugo states, “Howard Pyle encouraged 'living in a subject,' rather than merely illustrating people and places. This idea of creating dynamic illustrations by connecting emotionally with a story is where I found myself when creating this body of work. Stories, previously faded in my memory, came back to life and allowed me to be a storyteller of my block.” In another piece, Elements, Lugo champions the Black and Nuyorican youth that brought forth Hip Hop culture with graffiti, music, breakdancing, and sneakers. Lugo takes pride in extreme detail and authenticity, as it adds to the impact of each of his works.

Storyteller encapsulates the music, style, and pastimes of Lugo’s community when he lived in Weehawken, NJ, perfectly placed near New York and Philadelphia during the emerging era of Hip Hop. The exhibition is commanded by a series of still life paintings outlining Lugo’s reality of making memories outside of his home. Each component of the artwork has been meticulously constructed to match Lugo’s memory, from the front porch of his childhood friend’s house down to the unique color of a cassette tape he cherished. Every detail is planned in a way that Lugo can honor the tumultuous time in his life where he gained life-altering memories while his creativity was being nurtured at home by his mother. At age sixteen, he became immersed in the world of graffiti and developed the practice of carrying a Moleskine notebook to sketch and allow his friends to sign it. In starting his ‘blackbook’ practice, Lugo was able to document his unique experiences and write down his thoughts in an urgency that helped him recollect when preparing for this exhibition as an adult. In Storyteller, he pays tribute to blackbooks and tagging culture in his display of mounted Moleskines, open to fully realized illustrations of his lived experience. Even without traditional schooling, Lugo has always been driven to learn from his community of street artists and collaborate to create new work. From spray graffiti to wheatpastes to building-sized murals, Lugo has engaged in a multitude of disciplines and credits his peers for allowing him to develop his practice so confidently in the past decade. This confidence allows Lugo to glide smoothly between his street art, art curation, and studio practice, finding the ideal settings to tell the best stories.

Storyteller will be on view on the first floor of the Paradigm Arts Building (12 N 3rd St, Philadelphia, PA 19106) starting April 4 through April 25, 2025, with a public opening reception on Friday, April 4th from 6–8pm.

Please email info@paradigm-gallery.com if you wish to be added to Sean 9 Lugo's digital collector preview list for his upcoming exhibition, or submit your request HERE.

This exhibition is presented in part of our year-long 15th anniversary celebration, with additional programming looking forward to the future. 

About Sean 9 Lugo
Sean 9 Lugo‘s artwork is reflective of the diverse culture that surrounded him as a child growing up in Hudson County, N.J. with parents from Puerto Rico and Cuba. His street art is known for representing the duality of both Latin and American culture and experiences through masks that can either misconceive or stereotype perceptions.

Sean 9 Lugo’s artwork has been shown in solo and group exhibitions around the United States including The National Liberty Museum, University City Arts League, Mesa Contemporary Art Museum, Paradigm Gallery, Deep Space Gallery, Thinkspace Gallery, Arch Enemy Arts, Honolulu Museum and My Plastic Heart. His murals can be seen from New York to the Dominican Republic through projects with Mural Arts, Track Takeover, Wall Therapy, Welling Court, Arte Sano, Central Ave Sid, Arts Org NYC, Fashion Institute of Technology, HAHAxParadigm, NJ Beer Company, and Savage Habbit. He has been featured in national and international publications such as WHYY, WXPN, Streets Dept, Brooklyn Street Art, Street Art NYC, Robots Will Kill, News 12 New Jersey, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Jersey Journal.

About Paradigm Gallery + Studio
Paradigm Gallery + Studio® was established in 2010 by co-founders and curators, Jason Chen and Sara McCorriston. The gallery exhibits meaningful, process-intense contemporary artwork by emerging and mid-career artists from around the world, with a focus on Philadelphia. In 2023, Paradigm moved locations and opened its new 5-story, 7,000 sq. ft. home, The Paradigm Arts Building, in Old City, Philadelphia. Open to the public, the building boasts multiple floors of exhibition space, integrated in-house design and printmaking, a dedicated events floor, and art advisory offices. With this, Chen and McCorriston expanded their vision for the greater Philadelphia arts community. The gallery is at the heart of this vision, anchoring Paradigm’s overall mission of increasing access to the commercial art world, supporting artists and advancing their careers, and collaborating with like-minded partners to build a more equitable, sustainable arts economy for all.

EXHIBITION HOURS
Thursdays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Fridays • 10 AM – 6 PM
Saturdays • 11 AM – 6 PM
Sundays • 11 AM – 5 PM
And by appointment outside of hours.

MEDIA CONTACT
For all inquiries contact info@paradigm-gallery.com

LOCATION
12 N. 3rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram: @ParadigmGS
TikTok: ParadigmGallery
Facebook: facebook.com/paradigmgallery

Please email info@paradigm-gallery.com if you wish to be added to Sean 9 Lugo's digital collector preview list for his upcoming exhibition, or submit your request HERE.