Bernard Lokai (born 5 September 1960) is a German painter. He studied at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Ma ...

and was a student of

Gerhard Richter Gerhard Richter (; born 9 February 1932) is a German visual artist. Richter has produced Abstract art, abstract as well as photorealistic paintings, photographs and Glass art, glass pieces. He is widely regarded as one of the most important con ...

, and part of the Young Figuratives movement. He lives and works in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Germany. In 2002 he began teaching at the Freie Kunstakademie Essen in Essen in the Department of Painting and Graphics.

Life

Lokai was born on 5 September 1960 in

Bohumín Bohumín (; , ) is a town in Karviná District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. Administrative division Bohumín consists of seven municipal parts (in brackets population according to the 202 ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. After his parents left Czechoslovakia, Bernard Lokai grew up in

Düren Düren (; Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: Düre) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, between Aachen and Cologne, on the river Rur (river), Rur. History Roman era The area of Düren was part of Gallia Belgica, more specifically the ter ...

, Germany. After finishing high school he began to study art at

in 1982. In 1987 he finished the academy as ''Meisterschüler'' of

. At the academy he met the colorfield landscape painter Hans-Jörg Holubitschka, with whom he has participated in several exhibitions as part of the exhibition serial Young Figuratives.Ed.Leyer-Pritzkow, Martin (2001). Junge Figurative ( Young Figuratives. Carolinenpalais, .

Work

Bernard Lokai's work incorporates the gestural brushstrokes of

Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...

and the spray paint of

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

. His "Landscape Block" works consist of multi-panelled grids composed of eighteen 12 by 16 inch panels, each painted in the studio, then combined into a grid at random. Art critic Mara Hoberman wrote that Bernard Lokai's Landscape Blocks depict "eighteen land-, sea-, and sky-scapes in disparate styles quoting, in turn, the brushstrokes of

Monet Oscar-Claude Monet (, ; ; 14 November 1840 – 5 December 1926) was a French painter and founder of Impressionism painting who is seen as a key precursor to modernism, especially in his attempts to paint nature as he perceived it. During his ...

, Turner, and Richter (his teacher), among others."Mara Hoberman, "8 Einfluss: 8 from Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Kunstakademie`s next wave",

Artforum ''Artforum'' is an international monthly magazine specializing in contemporary art. The magazine is distinguished from other magazines by its unique 10½ × 10½ inch square format, with each cover often devoted to the work of an artist. Notably ...

, Edition January 2011

Exhibitions (selection)

* 2017 Galerie Fellner von Feldegg, Krefeld * 2015 Palazzo Albrizzi, Collateralevent of the 56th.

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

* 2015 Bernard Lokai - Neue Werke (new works), Martin Leyer-Pritzkow Ausstellungen, Düsseldorf, Germany * 2015 hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, USA * 2014 "4 auf 8" with Armin Baumgarten, Hans-Jörg Holubitschka and Katrin Roeber, Martin Leyer-Pritzkow Ausstellungen, Düsseldorf * 2012 hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, USA * 2010 hosfelt Gallery, New York City, USA * 2010 Gallery Fellner of Feldegg, Krefeld * 2010 hosfelt Gallery, San Francisco, USA * 2007 Martin Leyer–Pritzkow Ausstellungen, DüsseldorfRuhrtopia- Zukunft im Ruhrgebiet, Ludwiggalerie Schloss Oberhausen, ed. Insitut für Arbeit und Technik im Wissenschaftszentrum NRW, 2004 * 2006 Schloss Burgau, Düren * 2006 Martin Leyer–Pritzkow Ausstellungen, Düsseldorf * 2005 Type fair, Cologne * 2005 Galerie Fellner von Feldegg, Krefeld * 2004 Gallery Fellner of Feldegg, Krefeld * 2004 Art Fair, Cologne * 2004

Museum Ludwig Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It holds many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lic ...

* 2003 Martin Leyer–Pritzkow Ausstellungen, Düsseldorf * 2003 STE 2003, Prague * 2002 Lüriper 24, Mönchengladbach * 2002 Airport Art, Frankfurt/M. * 2002 Young Figuratives, inter alia with Armin Baumgarten, Hans-Jörg Holubitschka, Peter Lindenberg, Oliver Lochau, Stefan Müller (Stefan Schwarmüller ), Katrin Roeber, Mönchehaus Museum Goslar - Museum of modern and

contemporary art Contemporary art is a term used to describe the art of today, generally referring to art produced from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a ...

, Curator: Martin Leyer-Pritzkow Germany * 2002 Verdi Bildungsstätte, Kochelsee Germany * 2001 Young Figuratives, Junge Figurative, Carolinenpalais, Ketterer München

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

* 2001 Freie Kunstschule, Essen * 2000 Martin Leyer-Pritzkow Ausstellungen, Düsseldorf * 2000 Due Dimensione, Germania e Giovane arte in Italia, Deutsche Welle, Cologne * 1999 Galerie Radke, Krefeld * 1996 Leopold-Hoesch Museum, Düren * 1996 Galerie Jasim, Düsseldorf * 1996 Atrium Gallery, Krefeld * 1994 Galerie Jasim. Düsseldorf

References

External links

Literature from and about Bernard Lokai in the German Library

Official Homepage

Art works from Bernard Lokai at Martin Leyer-Pritzkow

"Einfluss", Panel Discussion P1, History of the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, 18 October 2010, moderated by Laura Richard Janku, with Stefan Kürten, Birgit Jensen e.a.

S.F. gets an better end of Hosfelt show with N.Y. by Kenneth Baker, in San Francisco Chronicle, 1 January 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lokai, Bernard 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 21st-century German painters 21st-century German male artists German abstract painters Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni 1960 births Living people People from Bohumín Painters from North Rhine-Westphalia Czechoslovak emigrants to Germany German art educators