biography of CHRYSSA (1933-2013)

Birth place: Athens, Greece

Addresses: New York, NY, 1955-on

Profession: Sculptor

Studied: Acad Grande Chaumiere, Paris, 1953-1954; Calif Sch Fine Art, 1954-1955.

Exhibited: Betty Parsons Gal., NYC, 1961 (solo); Guggenheim Mus., NYC, 1961 (solo); MOMA, 1963 (solo); Pace Gallery, 1966 & 1967 (solos), Harvard Univ, 1968 (solo) Galerie Rive Droite, Paris, 1969 (solo); Documenta IV, Kassel, Ger, 1968 (showed her 16-ft. high Clytemnestra"); WMAA, 1960-1970 (annuals), 1972 (solo); Paris Mus. Mod. Art, 1980 (solo)"

Work: MOMA, WMAA; Solomon R Guggenheim Mus, NYC; CGA; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Walker Art Ctr, Minneapolis, Minn; plus others.

Comments: Known simply as Chryssa, she was born Chryssa Vardea. One of the first artists to use neon tubing and commercial signs as sculptural form.

Sources: WW73; Lucy R Lippard, included in Pop Art (Praeger, 1966), Gregory Battcock (ed), Minimal art: a Critical Anthology (Dutton, 1968); Diane Waldman, Chryssa: Selected Works 1955-1957 (Pace Gallery, 1968); Baigell, Dictionary; Rubinstein, American Women Artists, 350-353.