Láolú Senbanjo’s unique black and gold geometric patterns welcome Yoruba culture and other Nigerian traditions into a contemporary context, translating the New York-based Nigerian artist’s design into porcelain.
Handcrafted head and bust sculpts revitalize a 70-year-old brand that has opened its eyes to a new global audience.
“The transformation of the brand was a necessity and something that had to be done in a very careful and careful way, as it was very important to preserve its heritage and preserve its DNA by taking it into a new era,” said Ana Rodriguez. CEO of Lladró. “People’s tastes and lifestyles evolve, so the brand must evolve as well. New generations are coming, with new visions, new cultural references, new needs, and the brand must reflect all these developments.”
The Dreamer by Láolú is Lladró’s first collaboration with an African artist and part of an effort over the past five years to future-proof a brand that recognizes the profound impact of a changing art world.
Senbanjo, a visual artist, musician, human rights lawyer and activist also known as “Laolu NYC” is the first artist invited to collaborate on Lladró’s The Dreamer collection. He has incorporated Yoruba body painting rituals, applying traditional African motifs with charcoal, ink and paint to everything from buildings and cars to paper, wood and the flesh of the models.
“It’s the first time I’ve worked with porcelain. It has a luster and shine when exposed to light that doesn’t appear in any other type of ceramic and it’s beautiful, something so striking and authentic,” Senbanjo said. “The elegance it emits is something that cries out for art, for visions of different expressions.”
Senbanjo describes his unique technique as “the Sacred Art of the Ori”, born from the use of skin as a canvas and the connection of artist and muse through mind, body and soul. Senbanjo, highly regarded for his bright patterned lines, creates his own visual language steeped in the Yoruba religious practice of becoming one with yourself or awakening the God within (Ori). Senbanjo’s creative process was deeply inspired by his paternal grandmother (Mom).
One of Nigeria’s three largest ethnic groups, the Yoruba are concentrated in the southwestern part of the country, and smaller groups live in Benin and northern Togo. The Yoruba boast a long heritage of skilled, productive artisans, working in blacksmithing, weaving, leatherwork, glass and ivory, and woodcarving. Their 13th and 14th century practice of copper casting by the lost wax method (cire perdue) is considered the most advanced technical mastery in west Africa. Yoruba women excel in cotton dressing, basket making and dyeing.
“Lladró began its collaboration with contemporary artists 10 years ago, when the brand began to explore a new way towards modernity,” said Rodriguez. “Early collaborations with contemporary artists included Jaime Hayon collections such as The guest, which has been an iconic piece of the brand ever since. Also works by international artists such as Committee, Morita, Paul Smith and Bodo Sperlin were created at that time.
“The Guest” by Jaime Hayon
Lladró
I was unexpectedly excited to discover the range of Laadró’s recent collaborations while celebrating its 70th anniversary and previewing The Porcelain Revolution coffee table art book at the brand’s energetic New York store in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District on May 3. My 13-year-old son Michael met the brand for the first time, among a crowd of 20-something influencers and trendsetters embracing the wide range of contemporary art objects. For someone who was a child in the 1970s and 1980s, this was a revelation that reminded me of the colossal and strange marketing failure of GM’s Oldsmobile brand in 1988. TV commercials featuring celebrities like William Shatner and Ringo Starr were paired with adult children promote the vintage car with the phrase “This Is Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile”.
Instead of trying to bridge generations with empty words and familiar faces and their otherwise unknown offspring, Lladró has elevated its brand by incorporating fine art and pop culture for a wider audience. Lladró is no longer associated with what you might expect to find in your childhood friend’s grandmother’s cupboard.
“It’s a generational thing, but also a vision of how we perceive and tell contemporary stories that connect emotionally with people,” Rodriguez said. “It’s always been about that emotional connection, and we’re going to keep creating and telling new stories, getting into people’s hearts now and into the future.”
Lladró’s focus has always been on lasting quality and appeal.
“Since its inception, Lladró has been a brand focused on the arts, creating highly valuable cultural pieces, handcrafted from porcelain in Valencia, Spain,” said Rodriguez.
“However,” he added, “it is in the last five years, since 2018, that the brand has installed a global and strong creative strategy, focused on modernizing the brand. This comes through creating new aesthetic languages for the pieces, exploring new themes and reapproaching the brand’s classic themes, developing new colors and finishes, diversifying the offering by creating new typologies such as lighting, home fragrances and jewelry, and collaborating with recognized designers and artists around the world.”
Artists are selected based on “a strong cultural approach to their work and tell new stories with a contemporary vision,” Rodriguez said.
“They are deeply rooted in a culture and have a real love for craftsmanship. They create new pieces for us, with their own personal language, which our very talented artisans can bring to life, preserving the brand’s heritage and bringing it into the present,” explained Rodriguez. “For us it is always challenging and extremely rewarding to see how with our porcelain we can incorporate so many different languages and explore so many different creative universes.”