Index
Where Decay Runs Riot
dusts of future history. the vanishing past and an unclear future. demolition sites and psychological limitations; the analogies between nature and architecture, transformation and erosion, war and utopia. using a variety of artistic tools spanning from oil painting to digital rendering. pairing pictorial atmospherical lush with elements of sudden violence, destruction, altering the artefacts of historical importance. pointing to the uncertain character of public spaces, intermediate social constructs, and the very unsettled notion of civilization.
combining minimal composition, a romantic visual sensibility, and a youthful, anarchic spirit. reading of landscapes and cities. training the eye throughout land art sites, crumbling urban high-rises, culturally entrenched monuments, explosive building demolition procedures. loading the classical artefacts with new traits through destructive interventions. material gestures dense with layers of suggestive meanings. an incisive examination of the foundations and inventions of civilizations, both ancient and modern. revealing their simultaneously seductive and alienating features.
Lives and works in Munich
b. 1993 Częstochowa
MSc Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences - TU Delft, Netherlands; 2017-2019
(EN) Playing with the ruins
Szymon Łapaj (1993) is an architect and artist. Working in architecture offices in Paris, Vienna and Munich, he was exposed to a variety of approaches. He combines the parallels and contradictions of different disciplines. His outlook gives phenomena of decay, destruction and decomposition a new form. Concerned by the ruins of modernity and the failure of an utopian empires, the Munich-based artist's work encompasses a poetry of entropy, that rearranges traditional means of representation to shed new light on their in-between state.
Many of Lapaj's objects consist of meticulously painted oil panels - reminiscent of the traditional techniques of Renessaince masters - which he then covers with dirt, concrete or asbestos. In the end, some parts of the original painting remain visible, while others are hidden, contributing to an all-around air of mystery. This encourages reflection on civilisation and its inevitable end.
His artworks are presented in private collections across Europe.
(DE) Mit den Ruinen spielen
Szymon Łapaj (1993) ist Architekt und Künstler. Bei seiner Arbeit in Architekturbüros in Paris, Wien und München wurde er mit unterschiedlichen Ansätzen konfrontiert. Er verbindet die Parallelen und Widersprüche verschiedener Disziplinen. Seine Sichtweise verleiht Phänomenen des Verfalls, der Zerstörung und der Zersetzung eine neue Form. Besorgt über die Ruinen der Moderne und das Scheitern utopischer Imperien, umfasst das Werk des in München lebenden Künstlers eine Poesie der Entropie, die traditionelle Darstellungsmittel neu ordnet, um neues Licht auf ihren Zwischenzustand zu werfen.
Viele von Lapajs Objekten bestehen aus akribisch bemalten Öltafeln - die an die Techniken der Meister der Renaissance erinnern -, die er dann mit Schmutz, Beton oder Asbest überzieht. Am Ende bleiben einige Teile des ursprünglichen Gemäldes sichtbar, während andere verdeckt werden, was zu einem geheimnisvollen Gesamtbild beiträgt. Dies regt zum Nachdenken über die Zivilisation und ihr unvermeidliches Ende an.
Seine Kunstwerke werden in Privatsammlungen in Europa präsentiert.