Stephen Antonakos ( el, Στυλιανός Αντωνάκος; November 1, 1926 in Agios Nikolaos,

Laconia Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, c ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

– August 17, 2013 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

) was a Greek born American sculptor most well known for his abstract sculptures often incorporating neon.

Life and works

Antonakos moved with his family from Greece to the United States at the age of 4 and was raised in the

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York neighborhood of

Bay Ridge Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bounded by Sunset Park to the north, Dyker Heights to the east, the Narrows and the Belt Parkway to the west, and Fort Hamilton Army Base an ...

. Antonakos' work has been included in several important international exhibitions including

Documenta ''documenta'' is an exhibition of contemporary art which takes place every five years in Kassel, Germany. The ''documenta'' was founded by artist, teacher and curator Arnold Bode in 1955 as part of the Bundesgartenschau (Federal Horticultura ...

6 in 1977 in

Kassel, Germany Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020. ...

and he represented Greece at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in 1997. His art is included in major international collections including the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of th ...

The Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

, The

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...

, all in New York City,

The National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of cha ...

Washington D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...

, The Hyde Collection in

Glens Falls, NY Glens Falls is a city in Warren County, New York, United States and is the central city of the Glens Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 14,700 at the 2010 census. The name was given by Colonel Johannes Glen, the falls refe ...

, and the

National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens The National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST Εθνικό Μουσείο Σύγχρονης Τέχνης (ΕΜΣΤ)), established in October 2000, is the sole national institution focused only on collecting and exhibiting contemporary Greek and in ...

. Among his public commissions were pieces for airports in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

, and

Bari, Italy Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy ...

and two high-profile works in New York City, "Neon for 42nd Street" (since taken down) and the " 59th street piece- Neon for the 59th street transfer station"(still standing). His large-scale neon installation, ''Proscenium'' (2000), was on view from January 28-June 24, 2018, at the Neuberger Museum of Art, SUNY Purchase. Antonakos was a member of the National Academy of Design and received their lifetime achievement award in 2011.

Selected exhibitions

* ''2020: A Space Full of Drawings and a Drawing in Space,'' Daniel Marzona, Berlin, Germany * 2017:

documenta 14 documenta 14 was the fourteenth edition of the art exhibition documenta and took place in 2017 in both Kassel, Germany, its traditional home, and Athens, Greece. It was held first in Athens from 8 April to 16 July, and in Kassel from 10 June ...

, Kassel, Germany * 2012: ''Neon, la materia luminosa dell’arte'', MACRO Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma, Rome, Italy * 2009: ''In and Out of Amsterdam: art & project'',

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of ...

, New York, NY, USA * 2007: ''The Abstract Impulse: Fifty Years of Abstraction at the National Academy 1956 – 2006'',

National Academy Museum and School The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, and others "to promote the fi ...

, NY, USA * 2005: ''Drawings'',

Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the early 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its ...

, Berlin, Germany * ''2002: Adventure of Medias; Sound, Light, and Image'', Kamakura Gallery, Kanagawa, Japan * 2002: ''Probation Area: Arte Povera, Conceptual Art, Minimal Art, Land Art: The Marzona Collection'',

Hamburger Bahnhof Hamburger Bahnhof is the former terminus of the Berlin–Hamburg Railway in Berlin, Germany, on Invalidenstrasse in the Moabit district opposite the Charité hospital. Today it serves as a contemporary art museum, the , part of the Berlin Nati ...

, Berlin, Germany * 2001: ''Im Spiegel der Freiheit: Giannis Tsarouchis, Stephen Antonakos, George Hadjimichalis'',

Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt The Schirn Kunsthalle is a Kunsthalle in Frankfurt, Germany, located in the old city between the Römer and the Frankfurt Cathedral. The Schirn exhibits both modern and contemporary art. It is the main venue for temporary art exhibitions in Fr ...

Frankfurt am Main, Curator: Hellmut Seemann * ''2000: (e così via) (and so on): 99 Artist from the Marzona Collection: arte povera, minimal art, land art'', Galleria Comunale d'Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy * 1999: ''Antonakos: „Welcome“ and „Chapel for P.S. 1“'',

MoMA PS1 MoMA PS1 is a contemporary art institution located in Court Square in the Long Island City neighborhood in the borough of Queens, New York City. In addition to its exhibitions, the institution organizes the Sunday Sessions performance series, th ...

, New York City * 1997: ''Chapel of the Heavenly Ladder'', ''47th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale'',

Biennale di Venezia The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

, Venice, Italy * 1989: ''ARTEC,'' 1st International Biennale, Nagoya, Japan * 1987: ''Mathematik in der Kunst der Letzten Dreissig Jahre'', Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Curator: Bernhard Holedzek * 1977:

documenta 6 documenta 6 was the sixth edition of documenta, a quinquennial contemporary art exhibition. It was held between 24 June and 2 October 1977 in Kassel, West Germany. The artistic director was Manfred Schneckenburger Manfred Schneckenburger (1 D ...

, Kassel, Curator:

Manfred Schneckenburger Manfred Schneckenburger (1 December 1938 – 2 December 2019) was a German art historian and curator of modern and contemporary art. He was the curator of the ''documenta'' art exhibition twice, documenta 6 in 1977 and documenta 8 in 1987. He was ...

* 1975: ''USA Zeichnungen 3'', Schloss Morsbroich, Leverkusen, Curator: Rolf Wedewer und

Rolf Ricke Rolf is a male given name and a surname. It originates in the Germanic name ''Hrolf'', itself a contraction of ''Hrodwulf'' ( Rudolf), a conjunction of the stem words ''hrod'' ("renown") + ''wulf'' ("wolf"). The Old Norse cognate is ''Hrólfr''. A ...

* 1975: ''Eight Artists, Eight Attitudes, Eight Greeks'',

Institute of Contemporary Arts The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...

, London, UK * 1973: ''Works in Spaces,''

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is a modern and contemporary art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art, and was ...

, San Francisco, CA, USA * 1973: ''American Drawings'',

Whitney Museum of American Art The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is an art museum in the Meatpacking District and West Village neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1930 by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (1875–1942), ...

, New York City, Curator: Elke M. Solomon * 1970: ''Preliminary Drawings'',

, New York, NY, USA * 1966: ''Kunst-Light-Kunst'',

Van Abbemuseum The Van Abbemuseum () is a museum of modern and contemporary art in central Eindhoven, Netherlands, on the east bank of the Dommel River. Established in 1936, the museum is named after its founder, Henri van Abbe, who loved modern art and wanted ...

, Eindhoven, Curator:

Jean Leering Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * ...

References

External links

The artist's websiteDaniel Marzona Gallery, Berlin: Stephen Antonakos
Neon artists 1926 births 2013 deaths Greek emigrants to the United States People from Laconia People from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn Artists from New York City Greek contemporary artists Sculptors from New York (state) {{US-sculptor-stub