Kostas Lambridis.
Photo: MATT HARRINGTON
Creative Mind: Kostas Lambridis
Riding high from a recent solo show at Carpenters Workshop Gallery, the fast-rising Greek artist uses found objects to create intricate furnishings and accessories
spin, rise, and thrust in random direction chandelier. Photo: MATT HARRINGTON
Replication isn’t in the vocabulary of fast-rising Greek artisan Kostas Lambridis, who recently wrapped up a solo show highlighting intricate, one-of-a-kind creations at Carpenters Workshop Gallery in New York. Each of the complex furnishings has a puzzle-like quality, assembled by fusing together dozens of ready-made objects found everywhere from a flea market in Athens to Facebook—and even a street corner.
“I live in a big metropolis that’s full of garbage, so garbage becomes my material,” he says. “I’m not necessarily trying to add value but find the value they already have.”
aerial shell bar by Kostas Lambridis. Photo: MATT HARRINGTON
Material approach: Lambridis, who assisted in Nacho Carbonell’s studio, took a mono-material approach to his latest creations, each of which spotlights one of his “five families” of elements: wood, metal, plastic, glass, or mineral. “I thought it would be better to keep them separate from each other and try to see if I could produce interesting work within this limitation,” he explains. A swirling steampunk bar, for instance, incorporates aluminum, steel, and car scraps from a Volkswagen Beetle and Citroën 2CVs.
"Reverse Fireworks in Slow Motion" exhibition at Carpenters Workshop Gallery. Photo: MATT HARRINGTON
Outside the box: For his master’s project at the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands, in 2017, Lambridis reinterpreted the Badminton cabinet, a monumental 18th-century Baroque decorative arts icon. His version—which melded marquetry, embroidery, ceramics, and more—was quickly secured for a group exhibition at the Fondation Cartier in Paris.
in melts first console. Photo: MATT HARRINGTON
A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2024 Spring Issue under the headline “Creative Minds.” Subscribe to the magazine.
Cover: Kostas Lambridis.
Photo: MATT HARRINGTON
