60. 60AR VASSILAKIS TAKIS (1925-2019) Double signal 1976 Signed on the base Steel, double light signals and electrical system Height: 258 cm Provenance Former Jean Albou collection, Paris Artcurial sale 29 January 2008 Galerie Xippas, Paris Acquired from the gallery by the current owner Private collection, Brussels A contemporary avant-garde visual artist, his work is rooted in a sculptural tradition ranging from archaic Greek sculpture and Giacometti to the discarded objects of technology. Fascinated by 'scientific magic', the source of inventions (he even registered industrial patents), Takis is also a philosopher of science, regularly immersing himself in the great ancestors of pre-Socratic philosophy, the medicine of Hippocrates and the inspirations of ancient Egypt. Along with the American sculptor Alexandre Calder, he is considered to be one of the fathers of kinetic art and works in motion often incorporating electromagnetic elements. The artist's interest in airports and railway stations are just two examples of his deep fascination with light, movement and magnetic fields. His work is also recognisable by its extensive use of metal. The artist exploits this material, which is subject to immaterial forces such as magnetism: he declared that he wanted to "respect the vital impulse of metal, to reveal these hidden forces, to vitalise materials and space".