Takis was born in Athens, Greece in 1925 where he died in 2019.

A major figure in the post-war European artistic scene, Takis explored invisible forces and the omnipresence of energy in all things. The energy of magnetic fields is one of the foundations of his work, from the very beginning of his artistic experiments. From the end of the 1950s, Takis invented tele-magnetic sculptures, where everyday metallic objects defy gravity with the help of magnets, and float in space. An “intuitive savant”, Takis uses physical laws and technology in order to escape weightiness and “introduce a new, continuous, living force to sculpture”. Whilst Takis is considered to be one of the rare innovators in sculpture today, alongside Calder, Brancusi and Giacometti, the liberation of the forces of nature prevails over esthetic form in his work. Takis’ pieces, made up of industrial or mechanical parts, are situated at the crossroads between art, technology and science.

Numeruous retrospectives of his work have been held by international museums and institutions such as Tate Modern, London, UK (2019), Museu d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, Spain (2020), Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France (2015), Menil Collection, Houston, USA (2015), Fondation Maeght, Saint-Paul de Vence, France (2007), Jeu de Paume, Paris, France (1993), Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1981), Fondation des Treilles, le Var, France (1982), Musée d’Art Moderne de la ville de Paris (1980), Centre National d’Art Contemporain à Paris (1972).

His sculptures are visible in a number of public spaces in Paris and abroad. A monumental basin of Light Signals is visible on the esplanade of La Défense, next to Paris; the Aeolian Signals are outside the Unesco headquarters in Paris, an Aeolian Signal is installed in front of Athens’ National Pinacotheque, along with three 7-metre tall Aeolian Signals which are opposite the Benaki Contemporary Art Museum in Athens; his “Solar Energy” Signals are also visible in front of the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels.

Takis’ works are part of different public and private collections all over the world: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France; Tate, London, UK; Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; Guggenheim Museum, New York; Menil Collection, Houston, USA; Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, Italy among many others.