Untitled Drawing A#5 - 87 1987

Stephen Antonakos made this drawing on paper—it’s all about stark contrasts, isn't it? A textured abyss meets these crisp, geometric interjections. I imagine him, charcoal dust under his nails, coaxing that velvety blackness into existence, maybe one layer at a time. It’s intriguing, this combo of the handmade and the hard-edged. That pink curve feels almost like a smile trying to break through the darkness, while the red cross stands assertive, yet vulnerable. I wonder if Antonakos was thinking about the push and pull between the organic and the constructed, something he did with neon, too. These forms feel like a stripped-down language, echoing what other artists have said with color fields or minimal shapes. We're all in conversation, aren't we? Reaching across time, trying to articulate the unsayable through line and form. And in this drawing, Antonakos lets uncertainty be part of the story, inviting us to bring our own meanings to the table.