J e f r e i d
Biography
Jefreid Lotti (b.1989) is a Cuban born artist and educator based in Miami, Florida. He holds an MFA degree from the University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (2016). Lotti has exhibited and published his work professionally for over a decade, making primarily oil paintings, monotypes and sculptures. He obsessively represents a multitude of personal interiors which he insists on depicting with an abundance of impasto oil paint. In 2012, he co-founded the group Serverus along with painters Miguel Saludes and Alvaro Labanino –this project paved the way for multiple collaborations and painting centric exhibitions.
His work has been exhibited at:
The Coral Gables Museum, Coral Gables, FL.
The Frank C Ortis Gallery, in Pembroke Pines, FL.
Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Coconut Grove, FL.
The The Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, Wisconsin.
James May Gallery, Milwaukee, WI.
The Hollywood Art and Culture Center, in Hollywood, FL.
The YAA Museum in Davie, FL.
The Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum in Miami, FL.
University of Wisconsin, Green Bay, WI
University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL.
Broward College, South Campus Gallery, Boward, FL.
Miami Dade College Gallery North Campus, Miami, FL
University Gallery, UF, Gainesville FL
The Historic Thomas Center, Gainesville, FL.
FIU's MBUS Gallery, Miami Beach FL
Artist Statement
Essential Work (2020 - Present) is a series of observational paintings of the mechanic shop where I work a full time job. These oil paintings of lone objects are done in isolation and after closing time. The shop being an "essential business" remained open during the worst of the pandemic, while most of the world was on lockdown. I ceased on the opportunity to use the space as a studio and subject matter. These paintings are as much about cars and formalism as they are about becoming resilient through challenges and isolation. I also see these works as a homage to the blue collar workers that keep the modern world running. Moreover, making oily paintings of the greasy metallic surfaces of the shop just made sense. The time constraint of working after closing time (5:00-8:00 PM) and the heat of an unventilated closed wearhouse, contributed to the speed of my gestures, the use of colors straight from the tube, and utilizing the white of the canvas as part of the value structure. As the series evolves there are inexhaustible possibilities of new forms and compositions since the tools of both trades, painting & mechanics have started to interact creating unusual pairings. This juxtaposition allows the objects to act as figures, still-lifes and landscapes of this unfamiliar metallic universe that is my daily environment.