Tbsp Loko

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Tbsp Loko

EL Loko (actually Edoh Lucien Loko, born February 11, 1950 in Pedakondji, Togo ; † September 13, 2016 there ) was a Togolese painter, graphic artist, sculptor and author. As an artist of African origin living in Germany, his work gained international recognition. EL Loko was one of the most important representatives of contemporary African art in the diaspora.

Life

childhood and education

EL Loko was born in 1950 in the fishing village of Pédakondji near the Togolese capital Lomé. At the age of 15 he began training as a textile designer in the Ghanaian capital Accra , which he completed after three years and then worked as a textile designer for two years. He then applied for a place at the state art academy in Düsseldorf . After he was accepted for a place at the university , his future professor Joseph Beuys helped finance a plane ticket, and EL Loko moved to Germany to begin his studies.

Study and work

In 1971, EL Loko began studying painting, sculpture and graphics at the State Art Academy in Düsseldorf. Joseph Beuys, Rolf Crummenauer and Erwin Heerich were among his professors . In 1977 he received his degree in “Fine Art” with the appointment of a master class student. EL Loko is one of the first academically trained artists in Germany of African origin.

Already during his studies in the 1970s, EL Loko became a well-known figure in the Düsseldorf art scene. EL Loko's first works of art, mainly woodcuts, were exhibited and sold throughout Germany.

With the expiry of his residence permit, which was only issued for studies, EL Loko was threatened with expulsion from the Federal Republic in 1978. With the support of Joseph Beuys and professor colleagues, art critics, museum directors and the then Duisburg mayor Helmut Wieczorek, EL Loko was able to reach a court settlement that enabled him to return to Germany permanently after having left the country once. In retrospect, EL Loko describes his experience of expulsion and return in his 1986 autobiography “The Blues in Me”.

Since 1982 EL Loko lived and worked as a freelance artist, first in Duisburg and later in Cologne. Numerous projects and work phases brought him back to his home country Togo again and again.

In 2016 EL Loko died unexpectedly in his birthplace Pédakondji.

plant

EL Loko's oeuvre extends over a period of more than four decades and includes works in a wide variety of techniques, materials and genres - from graphics and painting to sculpture, assemblage, installation and performance to photography. Between African tradition and European modernity, EL Loko developed its own formal language and its unmistakable artistic expression.

EL Loko's specially developed technique of "double basic painting" is characterized by the combination and layering of materials. EL Loko mixed different materials such as sand, pigments and oil on different surfaces such as canvas, nettle or wood and thus created a distinctive and unique style that runs through all series of works.

Woodcuts

In the 1970s and 1980s, EL Loko produced a wide variety of prints. Even during his time in Accra, EL Loko visited the exhibitions of Nigerian artists and was fascinated by prints. At the beginning of his studies he therefore devoted himself to the production of woodblock prints, encouraged by Beuys. These show landscapes and images of people in which the myths, codes and symbols as well as the aesthetic form of his cultural homeland and his African origin become visible. EL Loko's extensive graphic work sealed the beginning of his artistic work and can be seen as the foundation of his later work cycles.

Cosmic letters

Cosmic alphabet, PE.VO.TO. 22, acrylic on nettle, 131 × 155 cm, 2013

Since the beginning of the 1990s, EL Loko created his own visual language in painting, installations and sculptures, which he called "Cosmic Letters". These show ornamental courses, figurations, original symbols and ciphers, which when combined result in a “cosmic alphabet”.

For EL Loko, conventional languages ​​used for communication were always an instrument for exclusion and abuse of power. With the cosmic letters, EL Loko endeavored to create a universal alphabet which, without fixed meanings, enables the development of a very individual meaning for each individual and is a journey to oneself and the whole. With the cosmic letters, EL Loko tried to "establish a language that does not belong to anyone and in which everyone recognizes himself".

Through the combination of earthly, transcendent and religious symbols, EL Loko's visual language becomes an encounter between cultures, based on the art of the 20th century and the collective memories of Africa.

EL Loko's Cosmic Letters have been on permanent display at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa since 2016 .

World faces

Weltengesichter, KÖPO, canvas treated with pigments, 2002

In connection with the cosmic letters, EL Loko looked for a global identity in his series of works “World faces”. The world faces are shown in paintings of various sizes, in which elements of the cosmic alphabet can also be found. Different colors in black, white, yellow and red reflect different human races. Faces present themselves without specific features that make it possible to assign them to origin or gender. The universal face of people is shown in an apparently infinite variety of designs. EL Loko's world faces are faces of the "other" that look at us at eye level and appear like a mirror of ourselves.

Installations

EL Loko created numerous installations that thematically deal with the history and connection of Africa and Europe. In his installation “Explaining the picture to the pack”, EL Loko puts together 27 wall objects and 69 individual sculptures. The installation addresses the understanding and perspective of Africa in the world.

Projects

EL Loko saw itself as a link and mediator between the African and European continents. Numerous projects initiated by EL Loko promoted young artists from Africa and established a constant dialogue and exchange between cultural workers from both continents. In 1992, EL Loko founded the artist exchange project “African-European Inspiration”, which made projects and exhibitions by artists from both continents possible in Togo and Germany in the following years.

Quote

“There is no place,
not a tiny spot in this world that
will make a king out of you, me,
someone
.
It is your,
mine,
each individual duty
to transform his environment into a kingdom. "

- from the poem "Silence and Say Nothing" (in "EL Loko - Mawuena Poems and Woodcuts" 1983)

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

  • 1972 Gallery May, Düsseldorf
  • 1973 Die Brücke, Düsseldorf
  • 1974 City Hall of the City of Duisburg; Carl Duisburg Society, Düsseldorf; Galerie Monique, Stadtlohn
  • 1975 Dörner Gallery, Hagen; Gallery KiS, Düsseldorf; VHS study house, Düsseldorf; Ghana Museum Accra, Ghana; Goethe - Institut Lomé, Togo
  • 1977 The Fox Trappe Gallery, Washington DC, USA; The Gallery, Boston, USA; African - American Historical and Cultural Museum, Philadelphia, USA; Peg Alston Arts, New York, USA; African - American Museum of Arts, Boston, USA; Clarens White Contemporary Arts, Chicago, USA; Mayflower Gallery, Boston, USA
  • 1978 Henkel KG Düsseldorf; Galerie Palette Röderhaus , Wuppertal; Galerie Korte, Hemer; International Language Institute, Bonn; Gallery “Am Markt” art circle, Hofgeismar
  • 1979 Goethe - Institut Lomé, Togo; National Arts Center, Accra, Ghana
  • 1980 Hochdal community center, Erkrath
  • 1981 Municipal Collection, Duisburg
  • 1982 Sparkasse Bochum
  • 1983 Peter Noser Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland (with Bernhard Lüthi)
  • 1984 Altona Gallery, Hamburg
  • 1988 Zeitkunst Gallery, Stuttgart
  • 1989 Galerie Kunst (+) raum, Cologne; Westdeutsche Landesbank Düsseldorf; Gallery collective, Wuppertal
  • 1990 Stadtische Galerie Schloss Neersen
  • 1991 IFA Gallery, Bonn; Gallery EL Patio, Bremen; Gallery Peter Schädiger, Düsseldorf; Cubus Kunsthalle, Duisburg
  • 1992 "Steel Sculptures in Nature" Mülheim; Art and Culture Office, Krefeld;
  • 1993 Ev. Reconciliation Church, Waldshut; Art Association Emmerich; Gallery 48, Mainz; Alpha druck exhibition hall, Alsdorf
  • 1994 Savannah Gallery, London; Bildungswerk, Rosenheim; Christa Lörx, Xanten
  • 1995 Rolink Gallery, Steinfurt; Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg; Hexagone Gallery, Aachen; ARKA Kulturwerkstatt Zeche Zollverein, Essen
  • 1996 M20 Gallery, Hamburg; Toenissen Gallery, Cologne
  • 1997 Dany Keller Gallery, Munich; Galerie Stücker, Brunsbüttel
  • 1998 Galerie Frings, Brunsbüttel; Hospitalhof, Stuttgart; Municipal Museum, Kalkar; 7th Triennial of Small Sculptures, Stuttgart
  • 1999 Lippische Gesellschaft für Kunst, Detmold; Xenos Gallery, Frankfurt; Municipal Gallery, Mainz
  • 2000 Toenissen Gallery, Cologne; St. Pius Congregation, Würselen
  • 2002 Beethovenstrasse Gallery, Düsseldorf
  • 2003 European Art Court Vicht, Stolberg
  • 2004 European Art Court Vicht, Stolberg; Society for Fine Arts, Trier; Hohenloher Kunstverein, Hohenlohe; Aalen Art Association, Aalen; Iwalewa House, Bayreuth
  • 2005 Fritz Winter House, Ahlen; Fritz-Winter Atelier, Diessen; Beethovenstrasse Gallery, Düsseldorf
  • 2006 Deutsche Welle, Bonn
  • 2007 Upper Hessian Museum, Giessen
  • 2012 SOLO for EL Loko, Dany Keller Galerie, Germany
  • 2013 Kunstverein Hohenaschau, Bavaria / Germany

Group exhibitions

  • 1973 Remseck Castle, Stuttgart
  • 1974 Galerie Stodiek, Mönchengladbach
  • 1975 Museum Katharinenhof, Kranenburg; Gallery KiS, Düsseldorf
  • 1977 Secon World Bank Black African Festival of Arts and Culture, Lagos, Nigeria; Neighborhood Art Center Atlanta, USA; Martin Luther King Memorial Library, Washington DC, USA; Morgan State University, Baltimore; Capitol East Graphics, Washington DC, USA
  • 1978 African Arts in America, Boston, USA; Vassar College Urban Center, Poughkeepsie, New York, USA
  • 1980 Museum Rade, Hamburg
  • 1983 Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg
  • 1984 Peter Noser Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland - Art 15'84 Basel; City Gallery Wolfsburg
  • 1987 touring exhibition "Creation between Doom and New World"; “People and Integration”, Kunstverein Oberhausen; “We won't do it without the rose - for Joseph Beuys”; “Brennpunkt”, Art Museum Düsseldorf; Nordjyllands Art Museum Aalborg / Denmark; Lijevalchs Konsthall, Stockholm / Sweden; Malmö Art Museum / Sweden
  • 1988 “Embassy”, Kunstverein Wehr-Öflingen; “9 × Color”, Baumgarten Gallery, Freiburg; Biennale an der Ruhr 88, Städtische Galerie Schloss Oberhausen
  • 1992 artist project “European-African inspiration”, Pédakondji / Togo
  • 1993 "Pédakondji", Kunstpalast Düsseldorf
  • 1994 “La route de l'art sur la route de l'esclavage”, France; “Pédakondji”, Grassi Museum Leipzig, Städtische Galerie Prien and Kunsthaus Hamburg
  • 1995 4th Istanbul Biennial, Turkey
  • 1996 M20 Gallery, Hamburg; Toenissen Gallery, Cologne
  • 1997 "Ondambo", Windhoek / Namibia
  • 1998 Airport Gallery Stuttgart; National Gallery, Windhoek / Namibia; 7th Triennial of Small Sculptures, Stuttgart
  • 1999 Fondazione mudima, Milan / Italy
  • 2000 “L'Afrique en créations”, Lille / France; Large art exhibition NRW, Düsseldorf
  • 2001 Galerie en Beedentuin / Netherlands
  • 2002 Galerie im Turm, Cologne
  • 2003 Large art exhibition in North Rhine-Westphalia, Düsseldorf
  • 2004 Art Association, Bad Salzdetfuhrth
  • 2005 Dak'art Biennale, à Dakar / Sénégal; Biennale de Saint Brieux / France; Museum of modern art, Santo Domingo / Rep. Dominicaine; Atelier of the Tanneurs, Bruxelles / Belgique
  • 2007 Transcape, Cape Town / South Africa
  • 2008 Centro Atlantico de arte modern de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
  • 2010 Artco Galerie Herzogenrath, Germany Festival mondial des Arts nègre Dakar / Senegal
  • 2012 Black Germany, Kunsthaus Munich
  • 2013 Kunsthalle Bremen; Übersee Museum Bremen; Johannesburg Art Fair; Omeka Gallery Lagos, Artco Galerie Aachen, Germany

Literary works

  • The cuckoo's egg - Ahoba. Iatros Verlag, Dienheim 2009, ISBN 978-3-86963-352-7 .
  • The blues in me - an autobiographical story. Verlag M. Krumbeck, Graphium press, Oberhausen 1986, ISBN 3-9800259-4-2 .
  • Mawuena - poems and woodcuts. Franke self-published, Erkrath 1983.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joachim Melchers: EL Loko traces - The painterly work 1984 - 2004 . Ed .: Joachim Melchers. ARTCO Art Agency, Herzogenrath, ISBN 3-7795-0022-1 .
  2. ↑ About EL Loko. Retrieved May 26, 2020 .
  3. ↑ AFROTAK TV cyberNomads: Contemporary Art Africa Germany EL LOKO Master's Student of Beuys African Diaspora Germany African Art Berlin \ AFROTAK TV cyberNomads. Retrieved May 26, 2020 (American English).
  4. ↑ EL Loko: The Blues in Me, an autobiographical story . Ed .: M. Krumbeck. Graphium Press, Oberhausen, ISBN 3-9800259-4-2 .
  5. ^ RP ONLINE: City of Willich: Beuys pupil "El Loko" died in Togo. Retrieved May 26, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Tobias Wendel: EL Loko. In: Dany Keller Gallery. Retrieved May 26, 2020 .
  7. ^ Melchers, Joachim: El Loko: traces: the painterly work 1984-2004 . Ed .: Joachim Melchers. ARTCO art agency, ISBN 3-7795-0022-1 .
  8. ↑ Iris Lenz: EL Loko - Between the Worlds . Ed .: Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations ifA Gallery. alpha Druck, Bonn, p. 3 .
  9. ↑ Susanne Buckesfeld MA: EL Loko - the cut into the wood. In: Peter Kowald Gesellschaft ort eV Retrieved on May 26, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Joachim Melchers: EL Loko - The cut into wood . Ed .: Joachim Melchers. ARTCO art agency, Herzogenrath.
  11. ↑ Dr. phil. Daniela Roth: Cosmic Alphabet . Ed .: ARTCO GmbH. ARTCO publishing, Herzogenrath, S. 3-4 .
  12. ^ EL Loko: Cosmic Alphabet, text by Regina Loko. Retrieved May 26, 2020 .
  13. ↑ Tobias Wendl: Installations, sculptures and performances by EL Loko . Ed .: Joachim Melchers. ARTCO Art Agency, Herzogenrath, ISBN 3-7795-0022-1 .
  14. ↑ a b Dr. Ulrich Krempel: EL Loko Harmony and Identity - World Faces . Ed .: Galerie M20. alpha Druck, Hamburg, p. 6-7 .
  15. ↑ Cosmic Alphabet. In: Zeitz MOCAA. Retrieved May 26, 2020 .
  16. ↑ Petra Richter: With, next to, against - the students of Joseph Beuys . Richter Verlag, Düsseldorf, ISBN 3-933807-07-7 , pp. 175 .
  17. ↑ Carmine Chiellino (Ed.): Intercultural Literature in Germany: A Handbook . JB Metzler, ISBN 978-3-476-01618-8 , pp. 255 .
  18. ↑ Minas-Mainz - Reden / Lectures / Speeches - For EL Loko, Kunsthof Vicht, January 11, 2003. Retrieved May 26, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Loko, EL
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Loko, Edoh Lucien (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Togolese painter, printmaker, sculptor and author
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1950
PLACE OF BIRTH Pedakondji, Togo
DATE OF DEATH 13th September 2016
Place of death Pedakondji, Togo