Louisiana Porto Ricans is a series of paintings that reinterprets produce labels published during the 1930s-1940s. The original labels advertised different brands of Porto Rican Yams and Sweet Potatoes, and formed some of the earliest representations of Puerto Ricans in the United States.

Louisiana was the first U.S. port of entry for Puerto Ricans recruited to work in Hawaii's sugar and pineapple plantations in the early 1900s.

Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Vulture Brand Yams
2017
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans 72" x 72"
Barceloneta Bunnies, 2007
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"

Barceloneta, Puerto Rico is the center of the island's pharmaceutical industries. Barceloneta was also a prominent site for U.S. sponsored sterilization programs - an official policy for population control on the island from the late 1930’s on. With associations to both sterility and (artificial) virility, the town's Pfizer plant became the world’s leading producer of Viagra.
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Barceloneta Bunnies (detail)
2007
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Oh Mama
2000
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Oh Mama (detail)
2000
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Cooño
2000
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Uncle Kola
2002
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Lody Knows
2000
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"
Miguel Luciano Louisiana Porto Ricans Acrylic on canvas, over panel
Lody Knows (detail)
2000
Acrylic on canvas, over panel
72" x 72"