Introduction
by Juliet Pospielovsky
The glass artworks of Yorgos Papadopoulos might be seen as accidents or mistakes in some eyes, but to the unconventional glassmaker they are pure magic and he has freed himself from the confines of artistic labelling. As a viewer you can also experience a sense of liberty in his creations, losing yourself in each surface’s multiplicity.
Cypriot-born Papadopoulos is a true artist, but he’s not someone who fits description easily. ‘Glass is my canvas, hammers are my brushes,’ he says. And, in fact, his breathtakingly beautiful artworks are actually smashed sheets of glass that are treated with sandblasting, glass pigments, gold leaf, enamels, silicone gels and even – by accident – droplets of his own blood. The unusual artworks happened quite by chance and had that brief moment not occurred he may well have been a very different type of artist. ‘I had already completed a degree in Interior Design and I was studying ceramics at London’s Royal College of Art when I broke a piece of laminated glass. Instead of seeing the breakage as a mistake, I was blown away by the results. I began smashing glass deliberately and putting light behind it,’ he explains. ‘I’ve been doing this type of artwork professionally for 20 years now, but if not for my accident with the glass sheet, I might well have been a ceramicist.’
Biography
Born 1969, Limassol, Cyprus
Art & Design Foundation – Middlesex Polytechnic, London – 1988
BA (Hons) Interior Design – Middlesex University, London – 1993
Worldwide travel 1994-95
Ceramics Diploma – City Lit, London – 1997
MA Ceramics & Glass – Royal College of Art, London – 1999
Made in London – 2014
Bombay Sapphire Prize (Shortlisted) – 2004
Research trip to Japan – Trade Partners UK / Crafts Council – 2002
100% Design / Crafts Council Bursary – 2000
Crafts Council Setting-up grant – 2000
RTZ Travel Scholarship West Coast USA – 1998
Teaching masterclass – Pilchuck School of Glass, Seattle WA, USA – 2015
Research placement, visiting artist – University of Sunderland/National Glass Centre – 2013/14
Visiting lecturer – Royal College of Art, London – 2002
Visiting lecturer – Ashmole School, London – 2002
Visiting lecturer – Crafts Council Forum, UK – 2001
Workshop assistant – Fusion Glass Designs Ltd., London – 1999
Ceramics assistant – Rose Wallis Ceramics, Sydney, Australia – 1995
Interior Designer – Vakis Associates Architectural Practice, Limassol, Cyprus – 1993
‘35ºN / 33ºE GEOREF’ – Almyra Hotel, Pafos, Cyprus – 2018
‘Collect’ – Saatchi Gallery, London – 2018
‘Diamonds are forever’ – The Collection Gallery, Limassol, Cyprus – 2017
‘Homecoming’ – Kedares, Cyprus (solo) – 2017
Summer exhibition – Hannah Peschar Sculpture Park, Dorking, UK – 2017
‘Choices’ – Clerkenwell, London (solo) – 2017
‘Winter Exhibition’ Æon Gallery, London – 2016
‘European Glass Context’ – Bornholm, Denmark – 2016
‘Rational / irrational’ – Frederick Holmes & Co, Seattle WA, USA – 2015
‘4 Artists 4 techniques’ – Cyprus High Commission, London – 2014
‘Stratified Jewels’ Vessel Gallery London – 2013
‘Orthodoxy’ – Hellenic Centre, London – 2013
‘Modern Icons’ Keir Townsend Interiors, London (solo) – 2012
‘ING Discerning Eye Exhibition’ – Mall Galleries, London – 2012
‘Insight’ – Parasol Unit Foundation for Contemporary Art, London – 2012
‘Living with Glass’ – Vessel Gallery, London – 2011
‘Transparency’ – Istanbul, Turkey – 2011
‘OWD’ (solo) – Framestore, London – 2010
‘Vidriera contemporánea’ – MAVA Museo de Arte en Vidrio, Madrid, Spain – 2009
‘Lost Heritage’ – Gallery K, London – 2009
‘Through a glass, darkly’ (solo) – 12 Star gallery, London – 2009
‘I.con.i.cal.ly’ (solo) – Bridge Gallery, New York, USA – 2008
‘The 12 Madonnas’ (solo) – Famagusta Gate, Nicosia, Cyprus – 2008
‘The New Icons’ (solo) – Vessel Gallery, London – 2008
‘Flora’ (solo) – Margo Selby Gallery, London – 2008
‘Constancia’ – National University of Mexico, Mexico City – 2008
‘Effervervescence II’ – Sussex Barn Gallery, Chichester – 2008
‘Dissection’ – ABC Carpets & Home, New York, USA – 2007
‘New Voices in Architectural Glass’ The Hub, Sleaford – 2006
‘Bombay Sapphire in Paris’ – Galerie Claudine Papillon, Paris – 2006
‘Elais + Grove’ (solo) – 50 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London – 2005
‘Elea’ (solo) – The Gallery, Cork Street, London – 2004
‘Glass has many faces’ Tiffany Glass Schloß Holte-Stukenbrock Germany – 2004
‘Apeiron’ The Hellenic centre, London – 2000
‘The Show’ – Henry Moore Gallery, Royal College of Art, London – 1999
‘Ninety degrees’ (solo) Hockney Gallery, Royal College of Art, London – 1999
‘Collaborations’ – Victoria & Albert Museum, London – 1999
‘Arson’ – Gulbenkian Hall, Royal College of Art, London – 1998
‘Breaking the mould’ – Elms Lesters Painting Rooms, London – 1997
‘Barbican Showcase’ – Barbican centre, London – 1997
‘Eleven Shades of Blue’ – private residence, London – 2017
‘Eyes on Giverny’ – Private garden, London – 2017
‘In Leaf’ – Private penthouse, London – 2016
‘Silver Linings’ – private swimming pool area, Cape Town, South Africa – 2015
‘Infinity and Beyond’ – basement flat conversion, South Kensington
‘Innocence’ – Lea Valley Primary School, London – 2014
‘Oriental’ – Private penthouse, San Francisco CA, USA – 2013
Untitled work – Private residence Cape Town, South Africa – 2013
Untitled work – Private residence, Verbier, Switzerland – 2012
‘Forever Fall’ – Private residence, London – 2011
‘Clear Gold’ – Red Fort restaurant, London – 2010
‘Zooming in’ – private residence, Bandol, France – 2008
‘Blue Shards’ Sloane Square House, London – 2008
‘Waterfall’ – Sloane Square House, London – 2008
‘Citrus’ – Amigos Restaurant, Holborn, London – 2008
Private office – Soho London – 2007
Saga cruiseliner – Spirit of Adventure – 2006
‘Barrida’ – Vima Dance Studio, San Francisco, USA – 2005
‘Anemones’ – P&O liner ‘Arcadia’ – 2004
Untitled work – Private residence, Kensington London – 2003
Berkeley Square House London – 2002
Renka Furniture Store Birmingham – 2002
Private residence Radlett – 2001
Conco Property Developing W1 London – 2001
‘Impact’ – Collingwood Jewellery, Old Bond St., London – 1999
‘Willow’ – Private residence, Orpington, Kent – 1999
Pied-à-Terre, restaurant, London – 1999
Bibliography
Below is a selection of monographs about Yorgos and his works. Click on the image to read them online. There also the option to download your copy.
