Art Of The Day Weekly

Takis, a magnetic artist

In 1960, Greek artist Takis took over the gallery of another Greek, Iris Clert, at Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where Yves Klein had just presented his Vide. In turn he too made the headlines by sending a man into space. Actually, it was a short flight, since the guinea pig with a helmet was simply South African poet Sinclair Beiles, and he only took off a few inches from the ground. But he was moved by magnetic fields and Takis (nor in 1925) would continue to explore them up to our day. Like for Julio Le Parc whose recent exhibit at the Palais du Tokyo with his surprising installations, this exhibit too covers the whole career of a major artist of the last half a century, Desperate compasses manipulated by the visitors to unpredictable gongs, guitar strings pinched by wild sticks and the major Hommage à Kafka, an erotic and technological nightmare: Takis never ceased intertwining science, music and esotericism.
• Takis, champs magnétiques at the Palais de Tokyo, from 18 February to 17 May 2015.