In the mid 1950s he “discovered” neon, saying he had “found what I didn’t know I was looking for.” From the start, he placed his neon geometries in relation to each other and to their overall compositions.

In 1962-3 he detoured into the expressive Pillows — again, with whatever materials were at hand — but by later in 1963 he was back in his mainstream neon geometries. But fabricating neons was both expensive and time-consuming. Models also took too much time. In order to release the flood of ideas for neons now pressing, he realized that, “Only drawing can keep up with your mind.” — and so began the series of Project Drawings. From 1965 through 1973 he produced hundreds of dynamic sheets depicting first neons on bases, then in specific architectural sites such as corners and large walls, and then as rooms. Though the drawings represent neon works, the works themselves are distinctly non-representational.

By the mid-1970s the drawings and all his work had evolved into real things in real spaces — literally graphite on paper, neon tubing on painted walls — no representations, symbols, or illusions. The works are not images: they are objects in space. Placement is definitive. And he considered always the presence and awareness of the viewer in the space of the art.

The urge — the need — to place forms in specific relation to each other and to their sites remained the productive root of all his work. It is the source of over twelve distinct series of drawings on paper or vellum, including the late Cuts, Tears, Folds, and Crumples; the collages and Travel Collages; his prints; the Artist’s Books; the Silver and White Panels; and the conceptual Packages. The same instinct, “the hand leads the mind,” released the Direct Neons, Neon Walls, Neon Rooms, Neon Panels, Neon Canvases, his Chapels, large neon installations such as The Search, and over 55 Public Works of architectural scale in the US, Europe, and Japan.

A gentle man with an inclusive spirituality and a quick sense of humor, he wasted not a moment. They say, “If he was awake, he had a pencil in his hand.”

Courtesy Stephen Antonakos Studio LLC