EL Loko
EL Loko was a Togolese painter, graphic artist, sculptor, and writer. As an artist of African descent living in Germany, his work gained international recognition. EL Loko is considered one of the most important representatives of contemporary African art in the diaspora.
Biography
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 Accra, the capital of Ghana. After completing his three-year training, he worked for two years in the field of textile design. He then applied to study at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in Germany. After being accepted, his future professor, Joseph Beuys, assisted him in financing a plane ticket, enabling EL Loko to move to Germany and begin his studies.Studies and career
In 1971, EL Loko began studying painting, sculpture, and graphic arts at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. His professors included Joseph Beuys, Rolf Crummenauer, and Erwin Heerich. In 1977, he graduated with a degree in Fine Arts and was appointed Meisterschüler, making him one of the first academically trained artists of African descent in Germany.Even during his studies in the 1970s, EL Loko became a well-known figure in the Düsseldorf art scene. His early works, especially woodcuts, were exhibited and sold throughout Germany.
In 1978, after his student residence permit expired, EL Loko faced deportation from the Federal Republic of Germany. With the support of Joseph Beuys, fellow professors, art critics, museum directors, and Helmut Wieczorek, the then-mayor of Duisburg, he was able to reach a legal settlement that allowed him to leave the country once and return with permanent residency. EL Loko later recounted this experience of expulsion and return in his 1986 autobiography Der Blues in mir.
From 1982 onward, EL Loko lived and worked as a freelance artist, first in Duisburg and later in Cologne. Numerous projects and creative periods repeatedly brought him back to his homeland of Togo.
EL Loko died unexpectedly in 2016 in his birthplace, Pédakondji.
Artistic work
EL Loko’s body of work spans more than four decades and includes a wide range of techniques, materials, and genres—ranging from graphic art and painting to sculpture, assemblage, installation, performance, and photography. Navigating between African traditions and European modernism, he developed a unique visual language and a distinctive artistic expression.A hallmark of his practice was his self-developed technique known as “double-ground painting”, characterized by the layering and combination of various materials. He blended elements such as sand, pigments, and oil on diverse surfaces including canvas, muslin, and wood, creating a rich, textured style that became a consistent signature throughout his various series of works.
Woodcuts
During the 1970s and 1980s, EL Loko produced a large number of print graphics. Even during his time in Accra, he attended exhibitions of Nigerian artists and became fascinated by printmaking. Encouraged by Joseph Beuys, he focused on woodcut printing at the beginning of his studies. These works depict landscapes and human figures that reflect the myths, symbols, and aesthetic forms of his cultural roots and African heritage. EL Loko’s extensive graphic oeuvre marked the beginning of his artistic career and served as the foundation for his later cycles of work.Cosmic Alphabet
Since the early 1990s, EL Loko developed a unique visual language in his paintings, installations, and sculptures, which he referred to as Cosmic Letters. These consist of ornamental patterns, figurative elements, primal signs, and symbols that together form a Cosmic Alphabet.For EL Loko, conventional spoken and written languages—used primarily for communication—also functioned as tools of exclusion and power misuse. With the Cosmic Letters, he sought to create a universal alphabet, one without fixed meanings, that would allow each viewer to construct their own personal interpretations. It represented a journey of self-discovery and connection to the greater whole. EL Loko described this language as “a language that belongs to no one, and in which everyone can find themselves.”
His visual vocabulary combines earthly, transcendent, and spiritual symbols, forming an intercultural dialogue grounded in both 20th-century art and the collective memory of Africa.
Since 2016, EL Loko’s Cosmic Alphabet has been on permanent display at the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. His works are also part of the permanent exhibition on African art at the Museum Five Continents in Munich.