The World is a Ghetto

Sean 9 Lugo’s “The World Is a Ghetto” is installed on 32 bricked-up window openings on a building in the Spring Garden neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The work is an expression of life in the city through different people and their stories from a collection of 32 different hand-painted, then wheat-pasted, window views that create a collective portrait of Philadelphia. Each year, Sean 9 Lugo takes time to highlight various Philadelphians that have made an impact in his life through his ongoing “Clones of Illadelph” series. This mural combines highlights from that series with additional nods to moments throughout the artist’s career with the full setting inspired by “The World is a Ghetto” album by War.

The artist created each window view individually over a years-long process. These pieces that started in a sketchbook were then enlarged and painted individually. The bricked-over window areas were sealed and painted in a light grey to be similar to a glass window reflection. Importantly, the artist installed the pieces through a wheatpasting process, remaining true to how he has always created and installed his “uncommissioned” artwork on the street and applying it to a formal mural process.

Lugo described the mural:

“The concept behind this mural is inspired by War’s The World Is A Ghetto album cover art. Growing up in an urban neighborhood, on hot summer days everyone’s apartment windows would be wide open. You would hear music, laughter, arguments, and chisme (gossip). While War’s album art is a more direct reflection of where I grew up – the world I knew was a ghetto – I wanted to bring a similar vibe to the Spring Garden neighborhood.

Each window has a voice, you can hear the conversations behind each one. It is open to interpretation for viewers to create their own stories between windows and opens up the conversation on the world we live in.”