On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth, the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation presents a major dual retrospective of Takis—one of the most original figures of 20th-century art—unfolding simultaneously in Athens and Andros.
Early on, Takis experimented with the invisible forces of nature that surround us yet often escape our perception.
In an age where art often retreats from mystery, Takis stands as a rare force of nature—an artistengineer, a sculptor of magnetism, and a seeker of the invisible. On the occasion of his centenary, and with the contribution of the Takis Foundation, the Basil & Elise Goulandris Foundation mounts an ambitious retrospective—Takis 1∞—across its Athens and Andros museums, running from 22 June to 2 November 2025.
This dual exhibition offers not merely a survey of his work, but an invitation into his singular universe, where physics and poetry are one. The Athens exhibition foregrounds Takis’ fascination with magnetic fields, a defining force in his practice. Early kinetic pieces like Télésculptures and Télépeintures appear alongside his iconic 1960 performance The Impossible – A Man in Space, revealing his constant dialogue with the limits of material and perception. Projections of rare archival footage, including the hypnotic Hydromagnetic Sculpture (1969), enrich the experience. Meanwhile, the Andros museum offers both a thematic and chronological journey through his oeuvre. The celebrated Signals series—metallic totems that respond to their surroundings—dominates the Old Wing, while the New Wing charts Takis’ evolving vocabulary, from industrially inspired Dials to the sensual abstractions of his later years. Highlights include his 1969 MIT project and an entire section devoted to his experimental use of sound and eroticism.
Curated by Marie Koutsomallis-Moreau and Toby Kamps, and supported by key institutional loans, Takis 1∞ is a fitting homage to an artist who did not merely create forms, but summoned forces.
