The Beauty Trap
2022Signed Dated Titled
Size
28 x 100.00 in
Year
2022
Medium
Lightbox
Reference
fdadf821
Collage transferred to lightbox in an edition of 3.
The Beauty Trap is a large scale collage of paper cut-outs from recycled printed materials such as magazines and auction catalogues, and from digital printouts of jewellery and gems. Thousands of images were used and even the tiniest piece reflects the hue of a precious or semi-precious stone, turning the arrangement into a brilliantly coloured scenery with infinite designs, shades and subtle graduations. The title refers to the controversial concept of beauty, which in contemporary times has been associated with attractive, decorative or shallow. However, there is more to beauty than meets the eye. Umberto Eco in his twin publications On Beauty and On Ugliness alludes to the changing and elusive nature of both notions.
Entitled The Beauty Trap, the work recycles desire into desire, from the attraction to gems to that of art. The collage captures the battle between the material and the spiritual worlds, plays on the transience of ownership, and questions the nature of superficiality as opposed to the soul at the heart of all matter. Brillantism, the artist calls it, the skill to bring out the sparkle in matter by capturing, reflecting and withholding light. The appeal of the gem minerals was so great that since ancient times and across cultures, they have been bestowed with mystical powers and are whispered to protect, empower, heal but also harm, bring misfortune or put a curse. Each stone is imbued with a spiritual soul, beyond its shiny surface, and into the depth of its transparency. Brillantism seeks to reconnect with the deeper aesthetic, philosophical and historical perceptions of beauty, and to recognize beauty as an essential human need. The allure of gemstones closely follows the interpretations of beauty as emblems of power, wealth and wisdom, revered for their permanence and imbued with magical properties and colour-based virtues transferred to the wearer. Nowadays, precious stones are set in opulent jewellery, not amulets, crafted to adorn the famous and the rich.
1968 Athens, Greece
Lazarus Siakos is a self-thaught artist and creative individual who starts out from personal collections such as matchboxes, stamps, seaglass, magazines, plants, to create entities as design objects and artworks. Such are for instance The Little Match Girl - a large scale canvas with a collage of rare matchboxes, - Stamp Cabinet - a common bookcase transformed through a collage of rare and exotic stamps, and Motherhood - a collage of old masters' Madonna and Child depictions. His most recent large-scale project, The Beauty Trap, alludes to his childhood fascination with jewellery, luxury objects and precious items, and uses the shine and colors of cut-out printed gems to create a detailed collage of a surreal and allegorical landscape. The artist calls it Brillantism. Within the same concept, he is currently working on Ambivalence: A Life Cycle (working title) on the fine line between life and death.
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Address
Athens,
SIAKOS.HANAPPE House of Art was founded in 2010 by creative team members Els Hanappe and Lazarus Siakos. They joined talents and expertise to offer sound advice on aesthetic living and professional service to match. SIAKOS.HANAPPE House of Art is an Internet based enterprise, dedicated to the creative industry and to art in the private sphere. It encompasses...