Detail of 275 Untitled Greek Travel Collages, December 2, 1988-July 16, 2000, Mixed media from various locations in Greece, various sizes: 8 x 8 inches to 19 ½ x 15 ½ inches. Gift of Naomi S. Antonakos with additional funding provided by Bank of America.
The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies has mounted a permanent installation at the US Embassy in Athens of 275 Unittled Greek Travel Collages by Stephen Antonakos.
In 2016 Naomi S. Antonakos donated a portfolio of 275 travel collages by her late husband, artist Stephen Antonakos. Whenever he traveled—across Europe, North and South America, and Japan—Antonakos would pick up and keep whatever caught his eye—a postage stamp, a tiny shampoo bottle from a hotel, a few sticks and stones in nature. He said that he didn’t find them, but that they found him. Throughout his many visits to cities and the countryside all over Greece, Antonakos kept each day’s finds in an envelope he marked with that date, and back in the studio he composed them in relation to each other and to their overall site. The work was installed in the Ambassador's Suite of the new embassy building in September 2023.
Gift of Naomi S. Antonakos with additional funding provided by Bank of America.
Stephen Antonakos
275 Untitled Greek Travel Collages
December 2, 1988-July 16, 2000
Mixed media from various locations in Greece
Various sizes: 8 x 8 inches to 19 ½ x 15 ½ inches
The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies
The Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies (FAPE) is a publicprivate partnership dedicated to providing permanent works of American art for U.S. embassies worldwide. For 37 years, FAPE has contributed to the U.S. Department of State’s mission of cultural diplomacy by partnering with American artists whose works encourage cross-cultural understanding within the diplomatic community and the international public. All artworks commissioned or placed by FAPE are gifts, representing the generosity and patriotism of some of the United States’ greatest artists and donors. As of 2023, FAPE has raised more than $180 million in art and monetary contributions and works by more than 250 preeminent American artists have been placed in more than 140 countries.
U.S. Embassy - Athens, Greece
The U.S. Embassy in Athens, Greece was designed by Walter Gropius, and inaugurated on July 4, 1961. Gropius' famous design was in the characteristic Bauhaus form, inspired by the architecture of the Parthenon. The building is a national landmark and is listed on the Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Property. The embassy annex building opened in 2007 and the architect was KMW Architecture. Their design was inspired by the original Gropius stylobate scheme and respects the embassy’s simplicity of form.