Andrey Laponov

ANDRII LAPONOV
(b. 1978, Ukraine)
Lives and works in the United Kingdom.

Andrii Laponov is an artist whose practice brings together figuration, abstraction, and traditional gilding techniques. His work is centered on the construction of surface, where metal, light, gesture, and layers of paint operate in continuous interaction.

Laponov’s background in restoration workshops shaped his attention to the materiality of painting and the structure of the image. He studied Byzantine and classical European techniques, including gesso preparation, bole application, and traditional gilding processes. This experience established the foundation of his approach to image-making through the interaction of material, light, and surface.

Working across canvas, wooden panel, and synthetic paper, Laponov employs oil, acrylic, gold, silver, copper, ash, and industrial varnishes as active elements within the painting itself. His works develop through processes of layering, abrasion, and surface disruption, where metallic reflection, oxidation, and the density of the painted surface become integral to the structure of the work.

Within Laponov’s practice, the figure often appears in a state of emergence or dissolution. Alongside figurative compositions, he produces abstract series grounded in gesture, movement, and the density of the painted layer. Fragmented forms, sacred references, and the use of metal establish a distinctive visual language throughout his work.

His works have been presented in museum and international exhibition projects including the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art, the Museum of the History of Kyiv, Maison de l’Europe, Paris, and Halle aux Blancs Manteaux, Paris. His works are held in private collections across Europe, the United States, and Asia, as well as in the permanent collection of the Odesa Museum of Western and Eastern Art. His work has been presented at auction by Phillips, London.

Laponov is a member of the Ukrainian artists’ association «Tvórchist» (“Creativity”).