Friends of Paxos and Chris Boïcos Fine arts has been organizing Greek and international artists residencies in Paxos since 2013.

Misha Goro from Chicago and the South African photographer and sculptor Vivian van Blerk, based in Paris, have visited Paxos on numerous occasions. They have created over the years several series of paintings and photographs inspired by their experience of the island’s nature, architecture and light.

Misha Goro’s latest paintings focus on the island’s vernacular architecture, old Paxos stone houses and shops, some in ruins, disseminated through the island. Each painting functions as an individual and expressive “portrait” of a typical Paxos building and beyond its nostalgic quality also acts as a vital historical document of an architecture fated to disappear.

Vivian van Blerk tragically died in his Paris studio at the age of 51 in July 2024. The current exhibition is an homage to his life work and to his abiding connection with the island. In his photographic photomontages of Paxos, “Island Lives” (2013), Vivian fuses current photos of island landscapes and of passing tourists with classical sculptures from the collection of the Louvre. In so doing he establishes an expressive bridge between present reality and ancient myths, with a still unspoiled Mediterranean nature acting as the connection between the two worlds.