Ancient Coins in the Alpha Bank Collection. Contemporary Inspiration for the Sculpture of Giorgos Lappas

What the publication includes

The publication captures the dialogue between the ancient coins and Giorgos Lappas’ sculptures. It is divided into 2 sections:

• The first section presents 19 ancient coins. The introductory text provides information about the history and development of currency in ancient times since its invention.
• The second section presents 9 sculptures by Giorgos Lappas. These works converse with the ancient coins that inspired the artist.

A dialogue between coins and art

The publication accompanied the exhibition “Ancient Coins in the Alpha Bank Collection. Contemporary Inspiration for the Sculpture of Giorgos Lappas”, hosted at the main building of Alpha Bank from November 2008 to October 2009.

The exhibition brought together the ancient coins and the sculptures of Giorgos Lappas. It showcased 46 ancient coins and 9 sculptures representing symbols and images inspired by coins.

All the exhibits came from the Alpha Bank Collections. The coins are part of the Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection, while the sculptures were donated to the Alpha Bank Art Collection by the artist.

Ancient coins as a source of contemporary inspiration

Currency was created by the ancient Greeks to satisfy the need for transactions. Over time, coins became the bearer of diverse messages and witnessed historical, political and religious changes and events.

These small objects, the coins, inspired sculptor Giorgos Lappas to express his own view of them.

The artist carried images from ancient Greek coins into wall-mounted and free-standing sculptures. His art plays with sizes, optics and time.

The artist

Giorgos Lappas was born in 1950 in Cairo, Egypt, and died in 2016 in Athens.

His first field of study was Clinical Psychology. He then studied Architecture in London and Sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts, under Giannis Pappas and Giorgos Nikolaidis.

He received scholarships from the Watson Foundation, the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the Cartier Foundation.

In 1992 he was appointed professor of Sculpture at the Athens School of Fine Arts.

He has held solo exhibitions in Greece and abroad and has taken part in several Biennale. In fact, he represented Greece in 1990 in Venice and in 1995 in the first Biennale in Gwangju, Korea.

Giorgos Lappas’ life and creations were marked by his countless travels. His works may be found in many significant private and public collections, in Greece and abroad.

Authors: Dimitra Tsangari, Irene Orati
Publisher: Alpha Bank
Place and time: Athens, 2008
Dimensions: 28.5 x 21 cm
Pages: 26
Cover type: Paperback