White Cube Hong Kong is pleased to present an exhibition of works by the late Greek artist Takis (1925-2019).
Featuring sculptures drawn from a thirty-year period - from the end of the 1960s to the 1990s - it showcases the artist's committed exploration of art and science. Takis carved out a new aesthetic territory, incorporating invisible forms of energy such as magnetic, acoustic or light waves as the fourth dimension of his work.
Born in Athens, Takis (né Panagiotis Vassilakis) took art into realms that were previously considered the domain of physicists and engineers. Describing himself as an 'instinctive scientist', he harnessed foundational forces to generate the forms, movements and sounds of his static and kinetic works. Magnetism, including the bioelectromagnetics of the human brain, fascinated Takis and was a constant subject of study, not least when he was visiting researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the late 1960s. An important figure in the cultural scenes of New York, London and Paris, he associated with a diverse group of writers, musicians and artists including the Beat poets, The Beatles and Marcel Duchamp, the latter dubbing him 'the ploughman of magnetic fields'.
The exhibition begins with Vibrating Vertical Line ECG - V.Si.245 (1966), a multiple featuring an oscillating iron wire set in motion by a miniature electromagnet, highlighting the artist’s wish to push beyond the forms of the traditional art object while revealing the enchantments of science. An assemblage of various found elements, it evinces Takis‘ frequent forays into army-surplus stores from the 1950s onwards, where he found a treasure trove of discarded technologies that could be incorporated into his art.
Works from Takis' antenna-like 'Signals', an ongoing series produced from the 1960s to the 1990s, are also presented in the exhibition. These slender, totemic-like sculptures, inspired by radar and radio installations, oscillate or vibrate in response to any movement in the exhibition space. Several are topped with flashing coloured lights, broadcasting his energies in the form of light and chiming with the prevailing concerns of current Pop and Op art.