Antonakis, in his current solo show Too Cool for School, is presenting a series of 15 new works on paper and 9 ceramic works. His preoccupation with the subject matter of mythology and storytelling has been a persistent theme throughout his work. The subject matter finds its way as fragments in the form of drawings, through a methodology of assimilation, of digestion, and a burst out towards the viewer.

Most of the drawings are named studies, studies of sets/spaces from various mainstream or not television shows. Those fragments of spaces seem to define the course of the story as it is to play-out, but even if you are not familiar with the specifics the psychology of the inhabitants is present. The term “study” by itself is an indicator of the exploratory form. They are attempts to digest the psychological space of the characters, to know more about the story through the objects and spaces of the characters.

The works are empty of human presence, with a few exceptions in the drawings Chancellor Alexander Drew, study of SSBBW black grandma with a hunk and study of Billith, because the character’s rooms are the subject and those spaces are to be inhabited by the viewer. The subject defines in a way the morality of the “characters”, their moral rule of conduct.

The aesthetics have roots to the modernity, as that was expressed in the Greek environment (see Moralis, Papaloukas etc.) However, Antonakis's art, detached from movements or topographical identifications, originate from globalized TV shows such as True Blood, Beverly Hills 90210, and others. These define the subject matter and is an origin for the aesthetics.

In this series of drawings, the choice of the material and fragmentation is visible in the visual vocabulary he is using. He visually digests his subject. The geometric forms and colors work in harmony in a “sweet” vision causing an abstract visual euphoria.
Antonakis presents to us a world building study, he revisits the rooms and spaces that the characters inhabit and their world that becomes the container for narrative and social learning.

Ilias Koen