Statement

Carlos Llobet is a Costa Rican visual artist and printmaker whose practice investigates social inequality, economic disparity, and the intersection of art and society. Rooted in his early experiences growing up in Escazú—a district transformed by rapid gentrification during the 1980s and 1990s—Llobet’s work is shaped by the visible contrasts of class and access that marked his surroundings.

His artistic inquiry focuses on the everyday life of San José’s urban landscape, particularly the individuals who sustain themselves through informal labor—lottery vendors, shoe shiners, street performers, and car guards. Through these representations, Llobet foregrounds the structural nature of precarity and questions the invisibility of the working class in contemporary visual culture.

Llobet’s recent projects trace the historical roots of inequality in Latin America, highlighting how colonial legacies continue to shape socio-economic divisions. He critiques the ways in which the working class is both burdened by systemic corruption and subjected to media-driven consumerist fantasies that remain largely unattainable.

Technically, Llobet pushes the boundaries of traditional printmaking by integrating collage, painting, and print weaving. This approach allows him to explore the inherent multiplicity of the print medium while challenging its conventional formats and expanding into installation and mixed-media work.

His ongoing series, The New Normal, reflects on the socio-economic consequences of the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, the 2018–2012 recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic—periods that disproportionately affected the middle and lower classes through stagnant wages, low employment growth, and diminishing purchasing power.

Llobet’s work functions as a platform for critical reflection, advocating for greater visibility and dignity for those marginalized by economic systems. Through print-based practices, he constructs a visual language of resistance—reimagining the role of graphic arts as a site for social engagement and ethical discourse.