58. Chryssa (Vardea) (Greek, 1933-2013) New York Cityscape signé et daté 'Chryssa 1974' (sur étiquette du plexiglas en bas à droite) néons, plexiglas 92 x 70 x 25cm (36 1/4 x 27 9/16 x 9 13/16in). signed and dated (on plexiglass label lower right) neon sculpture, plexiglass Exposition Athens, Stavros Mihalarias Art, Chryssa '60-'90, May-July 1990, no. 51 (illustrated in the exhibition catalogue). Chryssa's work from the early 1970s ranks among her most extraordinary, producing majestic forms and oscillating patterns that capture the brilliance and throbbing energy of the modern metropolis. Mounted in a dark Plexiglas box, the curving neon tubes and the electrical connections and other visible interior parts enhance each other's impact, acting together to reveal the artistic process. Moreover, the timed lapses of light add a new dimension to the game of illusionism, compelling the viewer to experience the work as both presence and absence. The end result is a work of intelligibility and coherence that conveys a classical sense of structure and proportion. As noted by art critic S. Hunter, Chryssa's work "reveals the surprising contemporary outlines of a new classicism, in which we recognise familiar attributes of clarity, order and intellectual control."1 1 S. Hunter, Chryssa, Abrams editions, New York, 1974, p. 19.