Karl Monies
Karl Monies (b. 1984) is a multidisciplinary artist recognized for his distinctive series of decorative lidded vessels—containers, jars, and pots wrapped in vibrant, multicoloured climbing rope and crowned with oversized cork lids. His practice sits at the intersection of craft, material exploration, and sculptural design, often transforming utilitarian forms into tactile, visually compelling objects.
In 2024, Monies introduced his Bonum Lumen series at the gallery: a collection of indoor/outdoor copper lamps that pay homage to the enigmatic world of fungi. Drawing on their natural mystique and subtle bioluminescent qualities, the lamps merge functionality with a poetic sensibility. Inspired in part by the psychoactive and consciousness-altering properties of mushrooms, the Bonum Lumen works explore the idea of internal awareness manifested as external illumination.
A trained painter and part-time fine jewellery designer, Monies is somewhat of a stranger to utilitarian design objects, which he approaches with the naïveté of an amateur, a humble student. His on-going series of ceramic containers embrace design thinking only to interrogate it and undermine it from within, resulting in a line of aesthetically compelling, esoterically symbolic, and deeply humane objects that seem both ancient and hyper-contemporary, silly and sublime.
Karl Monies earned his BFA from the Slade School of Fine Arts and subsequently took up a residency at Bangkok University. He is now based in Copenhagen and his recent exhibitions include ARCANA and CAMO at Etage Projects, Le Hasard et la Nécessité” at the CCA in Andratx, Mallorca, “Masters of Laurels” at Rumpelstiltskin, New York (2019) as well as he has exhibiting with Etage Projects at Design Miami/ Basel, Design Miami and NOMAD St. Moritz.
Works
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