Four Squares 1974

Stephen Antonakos made this, Four Squares, with neon somehow attached to a white ground. Isn’t it interesting how minimal means can create such open ended feeling? The texture is smooth, almost clinical, and the red neon pops against that stark white. Look at how each section presents a different iteration of crosses and squares. In the third panel, the square divided into four quadrants feels like a basic unit of organization, but then the final panel offers just a simple cross, almost as if the artist is undoing the previous logic. The work, with its clean lines and industrial material, reminds me of Sol LeWitt's structures, but Antonakos adds this warm, almost playful quality with the neon. It’s like a quiet conversation about space, form, and maybe even a little bit about what it means to build something up and then strip it back down to its essence.