Aristeidis Lappas
Body Thoughts

The Breeder is pleased to announce Body Thoughts, an exhibition of new drawings by Aristeidis Lappas. Lappas continues here his exploration of the theme of the human form that has been an important subject throughout his practice and his most recent solo exhibition at the gallery, Tenderness of a Cutting Sword, which investigated amongst other themes the representation of the female figure in mythology.

We are presented here with a new body of drawings filled with bright and busy colour and shape; deep blues, yellows and reds against a white background offering a striking look at the human form. The drawings concentrate on the meaning of the body by seeking its essential lines. Lappas was inspired by Renaissance sculptures, by Vigeland and Michelangelo as well as by images of contemporary dancers. And while Lappas’ drawings present a more restrained aspect of his work than his paintings, here his female and male subjects, with their languid limbs, elongated faces and sensual poses, emanate a charm less obvious, but more fully human.

In the artist’s own words ‘It is strange the relationship a painter might have with a body. Facing a large history of its representation one is called to reinvent its representation on paper or on canvas. And reinventing it means somewhat changing it, alternating it, a novel re-creation. Not necessarily achieved by how you look at it, but by translating that vision into a re-collection of all these historical references while at the same time defying them with attitude. Caught in a cognitive dialogue within oneself, trying to both embrace and subvert them. Yet this is an argument that could be drawn for the structuring of any form in terms of a painter’s view.’

Aristeidis Lappas (b. Athens, 1993) lives and works in Athens. He studied for a BA in the University of West England, Bristol, UK during which time he did an exchange program with Academia De Belle Arti, Bologna, Italy. His work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions like Tenderness of a Cutting Sword, The Breeder Gallery, Athens (2020, Solo); Theorimata 2, National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (2020, Group); Polymorphic Entrancing Topos, P.E.T Projects, Athens (2019, Solo); Part II, The Breeder, Athens (2019); Break Time Contemplations, Transformer, Washington D.C (2018, Group). From November 2020 until January 2021 he was a resident in St.A.I.R, Graz, Austria. He is a recipient of the Artworks Fellow Grant (2020) and his work was part of the 7th Athens Biennale Eclipse (2021).