Lazaro Rodriguez

“The Hockney Lamp” and “The Kareem Lamp” are the first two sculptures in Lazaro Rodriguez’s ongoing Lamps series— life-sized, functional lamps modeled after cultural icons Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and David Hockney. The works explore the tension between the spectacle of fame and the banality of domestic life, placing two legendary figures in the most intimate of settings: your living room.

By scaling the lamps to life-like proportions and turning celebrities into furniture, Rodriguez playfully disrupts how we consume fame. It’s a satirical take on idol worship—where icons are literally plugged in and turned on at will—both glorified and domesticated.

Abdul-Jabbar and Hockney aren’t just symbols of excellence in sport and art. They also challenged the status quo: Abdul-Jabbar with his intellect and defiance of racial stereotypes, Hockney by living openly queer during a time of criminalization. Yet they’re often remembered more for their output than their personal resistance. Rodriguez’s lamps quietly critique this reduction, spotlighting the ways we flatten public figures into consumable images. The mundane becomes the spectacle, the spectacle becomes the mundane.

please email lazaro@lazarorodriguez.com for serious inquiries.