Stephen Antonakos: A Modernist’s Byzantium – Concert and Panel Discussion
November 20, 2019, at The Morgan Library & Museum, Gilder Lehrman Hall

Dr. Helen C. Evans, Mary and Michael Jaharis Curator of Byzantine Art at the Metropolitan Museum, and Robert Storr, artist, curator, and critic, discussed the Byzantine manifestations found throughout six decades of Greek-American artist Stephen Antonakos’s work. The audience saw images illustrating both the Modernist and the Byzantine aspects of his art.

Stephen Antonakos (Greece, November 1, 1926 – New York, August 17, 2013) started using neon around 1960, always in abstract forms, at vastly different scales and with various material combinations. His practice has lent the medium new perceptual and formal meanings in hundreds of gallery and museum shows in New York and internationally. His use of spare, complete and incomplete geometric neon forms has ranged from linear and 3-D indoor installations to painted Neon Canvases, Walls, Panels with painted or gold surfaces, Rooms, and Chapels. Drawing and collage also were constant practices. His work is included in major international collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC; and the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens.

The evening commenced with a piano concert by modernist musician Idith Meshulam Korman. She performed Piano Pieces by the Greek composer Nikos Skalkottas, as an introduction to the conceptual connections between Skalkottas’s compositions and Antonakos’s work. A reception followed.

A video of the event is available, free of charge, on our website.

Socrates Now
October 23, 2019, at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center

Socrates Now, a 90-minute solo performance-discourse, was led by award-winning actor, director, and producer, Yannis Simonides, which captured the essence of Socratic ethics while engaging the audience to think, question, and, perhaps, reconsider.

First presented by Elliniko Theatro in New York in 2004, Socrates Now has since been performed to great acclaim at the United Nations, the Athens Agora, the NBC Today Show, and in over 475 venues in 22 countries, and 10 languages. Leading world universities have combined the performance with interactive seminars on Socratic ethics and how they apply to our society today.

The audience sat in the court of ancient Athens as Socrates went on trial for his life. They heard the philosopher face his accusers with his trademark wit, cutting logic, and the courage of his convictions.

They considered his arguments on virtue, justice, politics, corruption, civic duty, love of life and hope in death, and, finally, each reached their own judgment.

After touring the world for 15 years, Socrates Now came home to its city of origin. Post-performance there was an opportunity to discuss with Mr. Simonides himself the ramifications of the verdict, and its present day implications. A reception followed the event.

A review of the performance can be read in The National Herald.

Dangerous Beauty: Medusa in Classical Art
February 21, 2019, at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Music Center

Kiki Karoglou, Associate Curator in the Department of Greek and Roman Art at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, presented the exhibit she curated, Dangerous Beauty: Medusa in Classical Art. The exhibit, was on view at The Met until February 24, 2019.

Beginning in the fifth century B.C., Medusa – the serpentine-haired Gorgon whose gaze turned men to stone – became increasingly anthropomorphic and feminine, undergoing a visual transformation from grotesque to beautiful. A similar shift in representations of other mythical female half-human beings, such as sphinxes, sirens, and the sea monster Scylla – took place at the same time. Featuring sixty artworks, primarily from The Met collection, this exhibition explored for the first time how the beautification of these terrifying figures manifested the idealizing humanism of Classical Greek art, and traces their enduring appeal in both Roman and later Western art. The winter 2018 issue of the Met Bulletin was devoted entirely to this exhibit. A reception with Kiki Karoglou followed the program.