Takis was born in Athens in 1925. His early years were difficult due to the German occupation and the Greek Civil War that followed it.

He settled in Paris in 1954. Influenced by the invention of the radar and the technological landscape of the station of Calais, Takis constructed his first Signals in 1955. Soon, these signals became kinetic and flexible, resembling electric aerials. They were first exhibited at the 'International Exhibition of the Plastic Arts' at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1956.

Takis had no formal art education, instead by living and working in Paris, New York, London and Athens he synthesized a broad range of ideas and experiences; from intensive scientific research, ancient philosophy and Zen Buddhism to encounters with other artists and writers, to forge a unique category-defying vision that continues to evolve today. Time, space, energy and even political activism became primary material for Takis.

In 1960 he had his first solo show in New York at the Alexander Iolas Gallery. A year later he meets Marcel Duchamp that will write his famous phrase for Takis: ‘par consequent Takis, gai laboureur des champs magnetiques et indicateur des chemins de fer doux’.

Takis is world renowned for his investigations of the gap between art and science. Since the early 1950s, he explored new aesthetic territories, creating three-dimensional works of art that incorporate invisible energies as a fourth acting element. He is a leader of the Kinetic art movement and a precursor of street art performance.

A large-scale retrospective of Takis’ work will be staged by Tate Modern in London between July and October 2019, where the spectator will experience the essential poetry and beauty of the electromagnetic universe explored by the artist.

His work can be found in many leading museums internationally, notably; the MOMA, New York, Tate Modern, London, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris, the National Gallery of Greece and the Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, to name a few.