Takis

The works

Untitled (Sans titre)
2010
88 x 82 x 85 cm
Iron sculpture

In 1955, the artist created his first Signals, works he created throughout his life, initially inspired by railway signaling. They consist of thin vertical bars that support small metal pieces or colored light bulbs that flicker, usually presented in groups.

This work is one of these signals; three very thin, non-rigid vertical metal rods hold at their upper ends three small, also metallic pieces, probably found and adapted by the artist. They form an abstract, geometric ensemble in which their immobility is unstable. The air or any nearby movement moves them, producing a disturbance that modifies the ensemble. The metallic elements and their movement evoke the world of a machine driven by chance. The sign, and its implicit abstraction, is one of the most complex human creations and characterizes the history of civilization. Every sign is, by principle, an enigma, and the signs Takis created throughout his life share this enigmatic component proposed to the viewer.

The most important aspect of Takis’s entire work is the creation of a universe in which the focus is not on the forms and objects we see but on the invisible natural forces that make solid objects possible: the internal forces that keep atoms together and the external forces that act on them. This piece came to the Stämpfli Foundation thanks to the Icelandic artist Erró. A close friend of both Takis and Peter Stämpfli, Erró, in agreement with Takis, decided to donate the work he owned. He also donated another piece, a magnetic painting titled Pou(r) Erró.

Pou(r) Erró (The Louse Erró – For Erró)
2011
30 x 30 cm
Magnetic polychrome painting with nails on canvas

In 2011, Takis dedicated this small, square work, 30 cm on each side, to his great friend Erró. He made three blots with the three primary colors, red, blue, and yellow, as well as black, so the work potentially contains all possible colors. He did it with a special paint containing magnetic components. On top, he placed a handful of carpenter’s nails so that the nails can move randomly on the canvas.

The title is double and humorous. The first uses the French word pou, which means louse, the annoying insect that lives as a parasite in the hair or skin of mammals and birds; It means Erró, the Louse. The second incorporates the r in parentheses and completes the dedication, To Erró.

Signal (Signal)
2010
88 x 82 x 85 cm
Iron sculpture

In 1955, the artist began creating his first Signals. These formed a series of works that he continued to make throughout his life, initially inspired by railway signalling. They consist of a group of long, slender vertical metal rods, with small metal pieces or electric light bulbs at their upper ends.

The work in question is one of these signals; three highly flexible vertical rods taken from military vehicle antennas support three metal pieces at their upper ends, probably found and adapted by the artist. They form an abstract and geometric ensemble in which their immobility is highly unstable. Air or any nearby movement causes them to move, producing an alteration that modifies the ensemble. The metal elements and their movement evoke the world of a machine driven by chance.

The concept of a signal entails an implicit abstraction that is one of the most complex of human intellectual creations and characterises the history of civilisation. Every signal is, by definition, an enigma, and Takis’s works partake of this enigmatic component offered to the viewer.

This piece came, like the entire collection of the Fundació Stämpfli, through a donation. In this case, it was initiated by the Icelandic artist Erró. A close friend of both Takis and Peter Stämpfli, he decided, in agreement with the artist, to donate the work he owned. He also donated another work by Takis, a magnetic painting entitled Pou(r) Erró.

In his early years, after learning to work with iron, Takis made his first sculptures that evoke Archaic sculpture, through the combination of salvaged mechanical elements, which serve as their base, and pieces that he manufactured himself.

He began introducing magnetism into his artistic research in Paris in 1959. The first work consisted of a metal tool suspended in the air by means of a magnet, initiating the series of works known as “telemagnetic” works. In the French capital, he formed friendships and developed relationships with artists who shared his interests, such as Jean Tinguely, Yves Klein, and the historic, also Greek, gallerist Iris Clert. It was at Clert’s gallery that he presented a magnetic sculpture, in fact an action, in which he suspended a poet friend of his in mid-air through the effect achieved with an installation of powerful electromagnets.

Takis expanded his practice with magnetic walls and musical sculptures made up of tensioned metal bodies, struck by another metallic element likewise suspended through the attraction of an electromagnet.

At the same time, his fields of research expanded towards light and sound, as in the sculptures entitled Télélumières, created with cathode-ray tubes that combine the organic form of the tube filled with blue light with the presence of machinery. Takis created a contemporary universe within the lumino-kinetic movement, in which the leading role belongs not to the forms and objects we see, but to the invisible natural forces that make solid objects possible: the internal forces that hold atoms together and the external forces that act upon them.

The artist

(Athens, 1925-2019)

Panayotis Vassilakis best knowed as Takis settled in Paris in 1954 and lived and worked in London, New York, and Athens. He was one of the pioneers of kinetic art, exploring the invisible forces of nature and the relationship between ordinary objects and the energies that move and control them: magnetism, gravity, light, and sound.

The most important aspect of Takis’s entire work is the creation of a universe in which the focus is not on the forms and objects we see but on the invisible natural forces that make solid objects possible: the internal forces that keep atoms together and the external forces that act on them. In his early days, after learning to work with iron, Takis created his first sculptures, reminiscent of archaic sculpture, by combining recovered mechanical elements, which served as his base, with pieces he made himself.

He began to introduce magnetism into his artistic research in Paris in 1959. The first work consisted of a metal tool suspended in the air by a magnet. Thus began the series of works called “telemagnetic.” In the French capital, he established friendships and relationships with artists with whom he shared interests, such as Jean Tinguely, Yves Klein, and the historic gallery owner, also Greek, Iris Clert. It was at the Clert gallery that he presented a magnetic sculpture, actually an action, in which he suspended a poet friend of his in the air thanks to the effect achieved with an installation of powerful electromagnets.

Takis expanded his work to include magnetic walls and musical sculptures formed by taut metallic bodies, struck by an equally metallic element suspended by the attraction of an electromagnet. At the same time, his research expanded into light and sound, such as the sculptures titled Télélumières, created with cathode-ray tubes that combine the organic form of the tube filled with blue light with the presence of machinery.