Tate Modern holds a retrospective exhibition for the sculptor Takis

On July 3, 2019, a major retrospective exhibition for Takis (Takis/Panagiotis Vasilakis) was inaugurated at Tate Modern in London. Takis was born in Athens in 1925. Essentially self-taught in sculpture, he was a sculptor-inventor who directed his interest toward technology and science, combining them with the art of sculpture. His adventure with sculpture began in 1946 when he created his first works from plaster and wire. In 1954 he settled in Paris and started the Signals series (kinetic sculptures that produce sounds with air power). In 1959 he presented his first Telemagnetic sculptures (using electromagnetic energy) and shortly afterward the TeleLumiere and Musical sculptures (which produced sound using electromagnetism). Between 1968-1969 he worked as a guest at MIT making Hydromagnetic sculptures. In 1977 he exhibited at Kassel's Documenta; in 1985, he received the first prize at the Paris Biennale, and in 1988 he was awarded the Grand National Sculpture Prize of France.

Taki's exhibition at Tate Modern was the latest in a series of retrospective arrangements for the Greek sculptor's work, who marked post-war sculpture worldwide with his pioneering work. Takis died shortly after the inauguration of the exhibition, on August 9, 2019.