Aristeidis Lappas creates works percolated by vibrant colours, shapes, and forms, aimed to seduce the viewer into taking a closer look at the nuanced discourse he offers via his artistic practice. Studies of Sphinx and Textures Pattern (2020) is a quintessential example of Lappas’s capacity to deftly layer bright reds and yellows while filling the pictorial field with visually stimulating imagery. Some of these shapes leap off the canvas and into the physical world as illustrated in a piece like A Fight with the Instinct (2020). Lappas creates artworks that are jovial in nature yet deeply examine Greek identity via humour and play.

Many of Lappas’s early works consisted of symbols and images derived from Greek folk art. Recently, his inquiry has shifted towards an increasing focus on pushing the boundaries of abstracted gestures and figurative strokes, while seeking to maintain the organic essence of vivid curved structures. His work is imbued with a variety of motifs, patterns, and textile-like signifiers derived from a variety of geographic influences within and orbiting Greece such as Ethiopian, Byzantine, Islamic, and Middle Eastern arts.

Lappas creates work that actively explores imaginary and non-singular identities that refer to historically, spiritually, mythologically, and religiously legible figures. He endeavours to challenge traditionally constructed notions of identity and storytelling, and offers alternatives to narratives, that provide a common foundation that connects viewers to one another and to themselves.

And the Dragon Ate St. George's Horse, 2020
Oil, acrylic and spray on canvas, 200 x 2 x 160 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

A Fight with the Instinct, 2019
Oil, acrylic and spray on canvas, 200 x 2 x 160 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

Warrior, 2019
Oil, acrylic and spray on canvas, 200 x 2 x 160 cm
Private Collection

Studies on Sphynx and Texture Pattern, 2020
Triptych, oil pastel on paper, 35 x 25 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

Study for Byzas I, 2020
Oil pastel on paper, 35 x 25 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

Study for Byzas II, 2020
Oil pastel on paper, 35 x 25 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

Study for Byzas III, 2020
Oil pastel on paper, 35 x 25 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens

Study for Byzas IV, 2020
Oil pastel on paper, 35 x 25 cm
Courtesy of the artist and The Breeder, Athens