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

2025

Takis 1∞ • retrospective exhibition• Museums of the B&E Goulandris Foundation• Athens & Andros• (curated by Marie Koutsomallis-Moreau, Toby Kamps)•

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.