Rizzoli Bookstore and Rizzoli Electa present a panel discussion celebrating Stephen Antonakos: Neon and Geometry, a retrospective of the preeminent Greek-born American artist, who was a pioneer in the use of neon in the realm of fine art. Author David Ebony, designer Henk van Assen, and The Brooklyn Rail founder Phong H. Bui will discuss the artist and the new book.
Tuesday, October 3, 2023
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM, Doors open at 5:30 PM
Rizzoli Bookstore at1133 Broadway, New York, NY 10010
David Ebony studied media and communications, and art history at Trenton State College, and at the University of Madrid, Spain, on a junior year abroad scholarship. He received his MA from New York’s Hunter College graduate program for Art History, where he studied with theorist Rosalind Krauss, artist Robert Morris, and art historian William C. Agee. After earning his MA, he was hired by Art in America magazine as an assistant editor, an association with the magazine that today spans more than 35 years. He became Managing Editor of the magazine in 2007, and is currently a Contributing Editor. Over the years, he has written more than four hundred feature articles, news items, interviews, and other pieces for Art in America. A long-standing member of AICA (International Association of Art Critics), Ebony is a former board member of the organization. Currently, a senior editor at Snap Editions, NYC, he is the author of “David Ebony + Art Books,” a column for Yale University Press online; and he has been a frequent contributor to artnet News, The Magazine Antiques, and The Brooklyn Rail, among other publications. In addition, he teaches a graduate seminar in art history and theory at the New York Academy of Art. He is also an independent curator; among his recent exhibitions are “Grasshopper: A Judy Pfaff Survey,” at CR10, Linlithgo, New York, in 2016; and “Metropolis,” at Edward Tyler Nahem Gallery, New York, in 2015. Ebony is the author of numerous artist monographs and has authored numerous catalogue essays for major gallery exhibitions of works by Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, Milton Avery, Malcolm Morley, Judy Pfaff, Elliott Green, and many others. He lives and works in New York City. Phong H. Bui is an artist, writer, independent curator, and founder and artistic director of The Brooklyn Rail, a free monthly arts, culture, and politics journal. Bui was named one of the "100 Most Influential People in Brooklyn Culture" by Brooklyn Magazine in 2014.
Henk van Assen is founding principal of HvAD, a multi-disciplinary design studio in New York City. In that capacity, he has worked on many projects in print, environmental, and screen-based media, ranging from book, identity, exhibition, and web design. Clients include Acquavella Galleries, NY; Rizzoli, NY; David Zwirner Galleries, NY; The Gego Foundation, Caracas, Venezuela; the Guggenheim Museum, NY; the Museum of the City of New York; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; FotoFest, Houston; the New York Public Library; Yale University Press and the Museum of Arts and Design, NY. Mr. van Assen graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Department of Graphic Design and Typography) in The Hague, The Netherlands, in 1989. After working several years as a graphic designer in Amsterdam, he came to the United States, where he received his M.F.A. in 1993 from Yale University. He coauthored, with Daniel M. Olsen, Ranch Gates of the Southwest (Trinity Press, 2009).