IN THE STUDIO WITH ROMAN LOKATI

We are so excited to welcome local artist Roman Lokati, who will be joining us for a two month residency in the art’beat Studio.

-The art’beat Studio is an open studio, pop in anytime to view works and meet the artists. – 

Román Lokati is a multidisciplinary artist born in Rota (Cádiz). He began his studies at the School of Arts and Crafts of Cádiz in 1988, completing them in 1991. Later, he continued his education at Central Saint Martins / London College of Communication, University of the Arts London, graduating in 2006. Currently, he resides and works in London.

His projects revolve around people and their environments, portraying individuals, animals, or objects, minimized and synthesized in their profiles or silhouettes as they engage in daily activities. His characters have been removed from action to become human testimonies. His works feature clean and finely outlined profiles, blending irony, social criticism, and philosophical contemplation. They are the result of meticulous years of research and experimentation across various disciplines, including painting, sculpture, drawing, installations, photography, and various graphic arts techniques.

The reductionist aesthetics of his figures echo elements of pop art, such as the use of industrial colors and precise, well-defined silhouettes without a narrative thread. However, Lokati’s work cannot be solely defined as pop art; it diverges from mass culture and advertising, instead expanding into graffiti and urban art styles. His creations embody a cold, anti-subjective aesthetic with minimalist and conceptual tendencies, while also carrying critical and humanist connotations reminiscent of American painting and sculpture from the 1960s. The finish of his sculptures and monuments is suprematist and monochrome, while his paintings and graphic works employ bi-chromatic and primary colors.

It’s worth noting that Lokati employs digital software in his production process, from initial sketches to final realization, creating a symbiosis between computer graphics, sculpture, drawing, digital painting, and contemporary art practices. His work represents an interdisciplinary digital approach across various artistic disciplines.

One of his most notable projects is the installation ‘Los Paseantes’ (The Bywalkers), executed in 2016, featuring six sculptures dispersed around the square and beach at La Costilla, Rota (Spain). Constructed of steel and painted in different colors, the sculptures mirror the viewer’s proportion and size, directly confronting them with a synthesis of performative action, prompting reflection on human activities and their environments. Typically, the characters are depicted walking, perhaps wandering, through urban or open landscapes.

Although Lokati’s works exude urban and popular themes, they also carry profound philosophical nuances. Much like thinkers such as Rimbaud, Kant, Rousseau, Nietzsche, or Troreau, who were influenced by their walks, Lokati’s characters seem to derive pleasure from the simple act of walking.

“The walk is a use of the time that takes us to meet our existence, and walking is a project that frees us from any project. Therefore, the domain o the Walker’s experience  is necessarily something else.”

Walter Benjamin

Stay tuned for upcoming workshop dates with Roman.