IYP X B. & M. Theocharakis Foundation, Athens
Stephen Antonakos: Vectors of Time and Space
Curated by: Sara Reisman
The B. & M. Theocharakis Foundation announces Stephen Antonakos: Vectors of Time and Space, a landmark exhibition celebrating the legacy of the late Greek-American artist Stephen Antonakos (1926–2013). Opening March 18, 2026, the exhibition celebrates the centennial of Antonakos’ birth in Laconia, Greece, offering a sweeping view of the artist’s prolific career and influence, and mapping the network of artistic movements and sensibilities that defines his legacy.
Vectors of Time and Space traces Antonakos’ boundless vision through six decades of creative output, foregrounding the artist’s evolving language of color, form, and luminous abstraction. The exhibition is anchored by key series from the late 1950’s, up to his most recently completed work from 2012, including Neon Panels (1980-2013), Direct Neons (1970s), Packages (1971-2006), Neon Walls (1977-2007), Alphavitos (1986-1990), Travel Collages (1987-2002), architectural models of Chapels (1992-2010), and Gold Works (2010-2013), alongside some of the artist’s more intimate sculptural works from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, that incorporate fabric, cardboard, and other common materials.
Alongside Antonakos’ own works, the exhibition brings together artworks by a selection of historically important and leading contemporary artists. A number were friends of the artist, while others were aesthetically aligned. All of them intersected with Antonakos’ arc, highlighting the enduring resonance of his ideas in the 21st Century.
Featured in the exhibition are works by Francis Alÿs (1959-), Yiannis Bouteas (1941-2026), Christo (1935–2020), Chryssa (1933-2013), Ksenia Ender (1895-1955), Lucio Fontana (1899-1968), Ray Johnson (1927-1995), Kazimir Malevich (1879-1935), Gordon Matta-Clark (1943-1978), On Kawara (1932-2014), Judy Pfaff (1946-), Robert Ryman (1930-2019), and Fred Sandback (1943-2003), situating Antonakos in conversation with artists who were engaged with Constructivism, Light and Space, Conceptual Art, Minimalism, and other forms of geometric exploration.
The title of the exhibition reflects the complexity of Antonakos’ Greek-American identity: in English, Vectors of Time and Space, and in Greek, Postscripts of Time and Space. With the two titles, the doubling of meaning between Vectors and Postscripts draws connections between Antonakos’ assertively linear, hard-edge abstraction and several of his more emotionally layered series. A vector denotes a type of graphical representation using straight edges to construct the outline of objects; a quantity with both direction and magnitude that determines the position of one point in space relative to another. Postscripts speaks to the communicative power of time as it is encapsulated within many of the artworks in the exhibition, and especially within a show commemorating the one hundredth anniversary of Antonakos’ birth. The dual titles, Vectors and Postscripts, capture two major threads within Antonakos’ work: his precise, hard-edge abstraction and his more emotive series reflecting the passage of time.
Works on view have been generously lent by Alpha Bank Art Collection; Stephen Antonakos Studio LLC; Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), New York; the Greenwich Collection; the Collection of Hellenic Diaspora Foundation; the Ray Johnson Estate / ARS, New York; MOMUS-Museum of Contemporary Art-Macedonian Museum of Contemporary Art and State Museum of Contemporary Art Collections; the Gordon Matta-Clark Estate; MOMUS-Museum of Modern Art-Costakis Collection; the Onassis Collection; One Million Years Foundation; Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection; the Fred Sandback Estate; Cristin Tierney Gallery New York (Courtesy of the Artist); Dimitris Passas Collection; the Estate of Yiannis Bouteas and CITRONNE Gallery as well as several other private collections.
An illustrated bilingual exhibition catalogue will accompany the show, featuring images of key works, archival materials, and contributions by Marina Miliou Theocharaki, Stelios Vasilakis, and exhibition curator Sara Reisman, illuminating Antonakos’ creative legacy and the evolution of his ideas across time and generations of artists.
Stephen Antonakos: Vectors of Time and Space has been curated by New York-based curator, educator, and writer Sara Reisman.
Stephen Antonakos (1926-2013)
Alphavitos, 1986 – 1990
unique artist’s book, hand bound – 76 pages of various etching techniques, cuts and collages on Arches and Dieu Donne custom paper and mylar, cover is silver on blue leather
49.53 x 39.37 x 6.67 cm
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Stephen Antonakos (1926-2013)
Package, c. 1970
oil paint, paper collage, postcards, artist studio stamp, pen, in plexiglass box
40 x 68 cm
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Stephen Antonakos (1926-2013)
Package to Be Opened June 1996, 1968-1975
canvas wrapped box sealed with string and wax containing approximately 70 Ideas for Prints and Air Brush Paintings, crayon drawings on paper
The box: 24 x 29 x 95 cm
Ideas for Prints and Air Brush Paintings: 13.5 x 9 cm
Prints: Each 56.5 x 76.5 cm full margins
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Stephen Antonakos (1926-2013)
Portrait of a Man, 1958
fabric and mixed media collage, in wooden frame
41 x 29 cm
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Stephen Antonakos (1926-2013)
Portrait of a Woman, 1958
fabric and mixed media collage, in wooden frame
41 x 29 cm
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Stephen Antonakos (1926-2013)
Sewlage, 1957
fabric and mixed media collage
150 x 92 cm
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Christo (1935-2020)
Aegina Temple, 1988
silkscreen and photo-collage
89 x 68.5 cm
Edition 44/300 plus 30 AP’s
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Christo (1935-2020)
Wrapped Book, 1973
book wrapped in canvas and twine
30.5 x 28.6 x 3.5 cm
8th AP, edition of 100 plus 10 AP’s
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Chryssa (Vardea) (1933-2013)
Untitled, c. 1960
neon and plexiglas
43.8 x 36.2 x 33 cm
Irene Y. Panagopoulos Collection
Lucio Fontana (1899-1968)
Concetto Spaziale, 1967
polished bronze
27 x 22 x 22 cm
Edition 455/500