Chryssa at Art Athina, 2023

Chryssa at Art Athina, 2023, at Zappeion Megaron, Athens.

One of the booths at the fair was dedicated to the art of Chryssa as a special tribute to her work. Chryssa Vardea-Mavromichali, was a Greek-American artist who worked in a wide variety of media. She was a pioneer in light art and luminist sculpture, known for her neon, steel and alumium and acrylic glass installations. Professionally, she always used the name Chryssa. She worked in New York from the mid-50s until 1992 when she moved to Athens. She died in 2013.

Her adoption of industrial processes, found commercial materials and her early work with neon light put her at the forefront of American art in the wake of WWII. Responding to her urban environment, she was particularly interested in the intersection of art and everyday life.

She was one of the first artists to exploit neon as a medium for artistic expression. She is perhaps best known for her monumental installation, The Gates to Times Square, a brightly illuminated sculpture of text and symbols made from neon that visitors can walk through. Interested in using words, particularly fragmented text as an artistic medium, she found neon tubing the ideal artistic vehicle for blending her ideas around text, colour and light.

Cityscape III, 2003, (enamel painted aluminium, blue)

Marilyn, 1967, (neon sculpture with timer in plexiglass)

Chinese, 1973, (oil on canvas)

looking closer

Memories of Chinatown, 1988-90, (acrylic on canvas)

Cityscape-Mott Str. No. II, (aluminium and neon)

Memories of Chinatown, 1992-93, (acrylic on canvas)

Classified Ads, Newspaper Book, 1958-62, (oil on canvas and neon)

Homage to Peace VI, 1999, (painted aluminium)

New York Cityscape, 1971-74, (neon sculpture with timer in plexiglass)

Cityscape Mott Str. No. III, (aluminium and neon signed)

Clytaemnystra, 1984, (aluminium and neon light)