Chryssa
1933 - 2013, Athens / New York
Chryssa (Chryssa Vardea-Mavromichali) was a Greek-American artist, who is best known for her monumental assemblages of neon tubes and large- scale minimalist paintings on canvas. Her work refers to early characteristics of Pop Art, Minimalism and Conceptual Art. Today, Chryssa is considered an important representative of these artistic movements and an early pioneer in light art. After studying at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris and the California School of Fine Arts, she moved to New York in 1958. Her first solo exhibition at Betty Parsons Gallery in 1961 quickly led to a major show at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Throughout her career, Chryssa was represented by prestigious galleries such as Leo Castelli, Pace, and Denise René. Her work was showcased at renowned institutions, including MoMA, Guggenheim, the Whitney Museum, Tate Modern, Documenta, and the Venice Biennial. Chryssa passed away in Athens in 2013.
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Selected solo exhibitions
2024 Wrightwood 659, Chicago, USA
2023 Menil Collection, Houston
2023 Dia Foundation, NY, USA
2022 - 2023 MOMus-Museum Alex Mylona
2022 Blue Velvet Projects, Zürich
2017 Documenta XVI, Kassel, Germany
2007 Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., USA
2005 Mihalarias Art Centre, Athens
1997 Leo Castelli Gallery, NY, USA
1990 Mihalarias Art Center, Athens, Greece
1988 Leo Castelli Gallery, NY, USA
1979 Musée d'art moderne, Paris, France
1977 Documenta VI, Kassel, Germany
1974 Museum of Modern Art, Montreal, Canada
1973 Galerie Denis René, NY, USA
1972 Whitney Museum of American Art, NY, USA
1972 Venice Biennial, Italy
1970 Whitney Annual (now Biennial), NY, USA
1970 Galleria d’Arte Contemporanea, Torino, Italy
1969 Obelisk Gallery, Boston, USA
1969 Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, France
1969 Galerie der Spiegel, Cologne, Germany
1968 Documenta IV, Kassel, Germany
1968 Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
1968 Harvard University, Cambridge, USA
1966 Pace Gallery, NY, USA
1966 Whitney Annual (now Biennial), NY, USA
1965 Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, USA
1963 The Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA
1963 Sao Paolo Biennial, Brasil
1962 Cordier & Ekstrom, NY, USA
1962 Whitney Annual (now Biennial), NY, USA
1961 Guggenheim Museum, NY, USA
Selected collections
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, NY, USA
Boca Raton Museum of Art, Florida, USA
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, USA
Nelson A. Rockefeller Art Collection, NY, USA
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C., USA
The Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA
National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens, Greece
National Gallery of Athens, Greece
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA
Whitney Museum of American Art, USA
Menil Collection, Texas, USA
Museum of Modern Art, NY, USA
Tate Gallery, London, Great Britain
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Collection Herbert Lust, Connecticut, USA
Indianapolis Museum of Art, USA
Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art, Thessaloniki, Greece
Metternich Sammlung, Germany
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Barbara Rose: Chryssa: Cycladic Books 1957-1962, Greece, 1997
Douglas Schultz: Chryssa. Cityscapes, London, 1990
Douglas Schultz: Chryssa: Urban Icons, Buffalo, 1983
Pierre Restany: Chryssa, New York, 1977
Sam Hunter: Chryssa, New York, 1974
Diane Waldman: Chryssa. Selected Works 1955–1967, New York, 1968
Krispy Kreme, 2009 - 2010 Metal paint with neon tube 84 x 94 x 40.5 cm
Classifieds II, 1953 Oil with stamp prints on paper 60 x 45,5 cm
White Plaster with neon N's, 1975 - 1976 Plaster and neon light 49 x 49 x 15 cm
Jazz, undated (late 1960›s) Neon light, plexiglass 70 x 51 x 31 cm
Cycladic Books (L), 1957 - 1962 Plaster, cardboard 99 x 72 x 4 cm
Untitled (dark blue on deep blue advert stamps "Florida $89"), 1959 Oil with stamp prints on paper 55 x 56 cm
Plaster N's I, 1970 Plaster and neon light 116,8 x 78,7 x 22,8 cm
Blue "Hamburger Heaven/Ice Cream Parlour" (BUR), 2009 - 2010 Painted aluminium, neon tube 118 x 92 x 40 cm