Takis

Takis
© Takis Foundation Archives

Born in 1925 in Athens (Panayiotis Vassilakis). A self-taught artist, he left Athens in 1954, travelled to Europe and the United States and in Paris. In 1958, he started experimenting with magnetic fields, which became the foundation of his work. In 1960 the French Ministry of Industry awarded him a patent for “Telesculpture” and for “Electromagnetic Telesculpture”. In 1964, under his initiative, began the construction of the Centre for Arts and Sciences in Gerovouno. He is one of the pioneering artists of the international art scene and ranks among the major representatives of “Kinetic Art”. His works adorn the permanent collections of the most important museums of the world, such as the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the M.O.M.A. and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, the De Menil Collection in Houston, the Tate Modern in London, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. His work is also exhibited in the gardens of UNESCO as well as in La Défense, Paris, where the French government granted him the largest public space ever to be given to an artist in the history of Paris: 3,500 sq.m. for a ‘forest’ of 49 Luminous Signals. He has also participated twice in the Documenta in Kassel, once in the Venice Biennale and also in 1985 in the Paris Biennale, where he was awarded first prize. He passed away in Athens on 9 August 2019.

 

Works

Solo Exhibitions

2022

Takis | Télésculpture & Magnetic Relief Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center Athens

2019

Takis Tate Modern London

2017

Takis, Black and White. The Fourth Dimension Xippas Gallery Paris

2016

Les Signaux et la Quatrième Dimension Xippas Gallery Geneva

2015

Takis, Champs magnétiques Palais de Tokyo Paris

2015

The Fourth Dimension Menil Collection Houston

2012

Magnetic Walls – The Fourth Dimension Axel Vervoordt Gallery Antwerp

2011

Takis Musicales Festival d’Automne, Espace Pierre Cardin Paris

2009

Magnetic Walls 2009 Takis Foundation, Médecins Sans Frontières, Rotary Club of West Attica and Xippas Gallery Athens

2008

A Forest of Sculptures: The Simon Spierer Collection Athinais Cultural Center Athens

2008

Magnetic Walls Art Athina Athens (Xippas Gallery)

2007

Takis. Oeuvres Récentes Fondation Maeght Saint-Paul-de-Vence

2007

Takis. Planets – Reflections Intercontinental Hotel Athens

2005

Takis. Recent works Mihalarias Art Athens

2004

Takis e Acireale Galeria Credito Siciliano Sicily

2003

Système Solaire (Antigravity) Xippas Gallery Paris

2002

Takis 1974–2002, Sculptures to Wear Zoumboulakis Galleries Athens

1996

Takis Erotica Mihalarias Art Athens

1995

Takis Retrospective Athens School of Fine Arts, "The Factory" (Nikos Kessanlis Exhibition Hall) Athens

1994

Takis Retrospective Fundación La Caixa Madrid

1994

Takis Retrospective FAE Museum of Contemporary Art Pully – Lausanne

1994

Magnetic Reliefs 1971–1976 Medusa + 1 Art Gallery Athens

1993

Takis Retrospective National Gallery of Jeu de Paume Paris

1992

Takis. Musique et Espace Musée des Beaux Arts Nimes

1990

Takis. Champs Magnétiques 1960-1990 Galerie JGM Paris

1990

Takis. Magnetic Flowers Medusa Art Gallery Athens

1990

Takis Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art (MOMus – Museum of Contemporary Art) Thessaloniki

1990

Signals Stavros Mihalarias Art Athens

1990

Takis à La Défense Espace Art Défense – Art Gallery 4 Paris

1988

Takis – Electra ’88 Stavros Mihalarias Art Athens

1986

Takis: Espace musical Rath Museum Geneva

1986

Takis Galerie de l’Hotel de Ville Villeurbanne

1981

Trois Totems – Espace musical Centre George Pompidou Paris

1981

Derrière Le Mirroir Galerie Maeght Paris

1979

Takis Musée de la Ville de Calais Calais

1979

Takis Galerie Reckermann Cologne

1979

Takis: Klangraum Gestaltung Koelnischer Kunstverein Cologne

1978

Takis. Espace musical Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, ARC 2 Paris

1977

Takis: Sculptures 1955-1965 Trito Mati Gallery Athens

1977

Takis Éditions New Smith Gallery Brussels

1977

Takis Artcurial Gallery Paris

1976

Sculptures érotiques Alexandre Iolas Galleries Paris

1974

Takis Musicales Galerie Fred Lanzenberg Brussels

1974

Takis Alexandre Iolas – Zoumboulakis Galleries Athens

1974

Takis’ Musikalische Raume Kunstverein Hannover Hannover

1972

Takis Galerie Fred Lanzenberg Brussels

1972

Takis Centre National d’Art Contemporain Paris

1972

Lignes parallèles Galleria Iolas-Galatea Milan

1971

Takis Alexandre Iolas Galleries Paris

1971

Multiples de Takis Galerie Bama Paris

1970

Takis. Magnetic Fields Howard Wise Gallery New York

1969

Takis Howard Wise Gallery New York

1968

Retrospective Hayden Gallery M.I.T. Cambridge / Mass

1968

Takis Editionen Galerie Reckermann Cologne

1968

Takis Signal Unlimited Widcombe Manor Bath

1968

Takis. Edition Signals limitées et illimitées Arts Lab London

1968

Takis. Édition Signals limitées et illimitées Galerie Schwarz Milan

1967

Takis Galerie Claude Givaudan Paris

1967

Takis Galerie Krikhaar Amsterdam

1967

Takis, Magnetic Sculpture Howard Wise Gallery New York

1966

Magnetic Sculptures and the White Signals Indica Gallery London

1966

Takis Hanover Gallery London

1966

Takis Alexandre Iolas Galleries Paris

1965

Takis Alexandre Iolas Galleries Geneva

1964

Takis’s Magnetic Exhibition Signals Showrooms London

1964

Takis Alexandre Iolas Galleries Geneva

1964

Takis. Dix ans de sculpture Alexandre Iolas Galleries Paris

1963

Telesculptures, telephota, telemagnets Alexandre Iolas Galleries New York

1962

Takis Schwarz Gallery Milan

1961

Signaux et Télé – Sculptures Galerie Zwirner Essen

1961

Takis: Telemagnetic Sculptures Alexandre Iolas Galleries New York

1960

L'impossible: Un homme dans l'espace Galerie Iris Clert Paris

1960

Takis Alexandre Iolas Galleries New York

1959

Télémagnétique de Takis Galerie Iris Clert Paris

1958

Présentation de Trois Sculptures magnétiques et de Antigravité Galerie Iris Clert Paris

1955

Signals Hanover Gallery London

1955

Figures en Fer et Signaux Fürstenberg Gallery Paris

1955

Figures in Plaster and Iron Hanover Gallery London

Press

Takis is the sculptor of magnetic fields, the creator of a new aesthetic proposal. Sharpness in design, simplicity, a harmonious congruence of structures and unexpected technological materials are some of the familiar features of the work of the well-known artist of kinetic sculpture. He consistently sought the direct collaboration of art with science, emotion with imagination, intuition with reality, so that his every action, whether it came to his autonomous sculptural entities or his impressive performances or installations, would speak to the spirit and the soul of the viewer. The path he followed, from the early 1950s until the present day, has been strenuous, as he cares nothing for the art of description and insists on the art of the sense of what is real.

His sculpture takes off through its subtle movements; it imposes its presence in the space, it suggests its existence, in many cases through sounds, as if it wants to communicate with the universe.

His Signals inspire optimism, which stems from the creator’s trust in the destination of mankind, beyond awareness of its current misfortune. The concept of a circular relationship between art, science and technology defines his ceaseless action. His gigantic sculptural compositions in public spaces in France, such as in La Défense, a forest of Signals (1987-1990), or at Beauvais (1992), reveal his desire for each of his works to produce energy that speaks directly to the soul of the viewer.

The creator of energy art had publicised, in August 1998, his proposal “Photovoltaic Arc – Solar Firefighting”, for the protection of forests against fires.

His first Flowers (1957), decharged of any lyrical disposition, were incorporated into a contemporary technological landscape, identical to that of the harsh reality of vast metropolises. The Magnetic Flowers, subsequently, also in harmony with the environment, developed upon the principles of curve geometry, turning their orientation towards the astral environment. In his hands, objets trouvés were thus transformed so that a car crank would refer us to the stem of a flower, cogwheels or disks to flower petals, a mechanical flower to a radar, a radar to some astral symbol… The vertical, suggestive Signals, sometimes with lights and electrical mechanisms, sometimes with blades and aerials, create a distinctive sensation in the world of conventional values.

Takis worked hard in the realm of the unexplored and the mysterious, beginning always from the depths to meet the universe. Two fundamental principles, the absolute reality of the spirit and the ceaseless transformation of life within its own movement, seal his work.

 

Takis Mavrotas
* From the catalogue of the exhibition “A Forest of Sculptures: The Simon Spierer Collection”, Athinais Cultural Center, Athens, 2008.