On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at 8:00 PM, the painting exhibition titled “Giorgos Taxidis – Mount Athos, A Place of Silence” will be inaugurated at the exhibition space of the Mount Athos Center.

The new exhibition is the result of the long-term artistic program of the Mount Athos Center in collaboration with the visual artist Giorgos Taxidis. Over the five-year period from 2020 to 2025, the artist, with the support and guidance of the institution, made more than fifteen trips to the Athonite State. He visited all twenty monasteries, followed the daily routines of the monks, participated in the liturgical events, spoke with them, and captured this experiential journey in 115 works using various techniques: pencil, charcoal, oil, watercolor, as well as sculptural and engraving works.

The artistic program was curated by Anastasios Douros, director of the Mount Athos Center.

The exhibition curation is signed by the art historian Giannis Bolis, who notes about Taxidis’s works:

“Emotion and experience are always similar when in contact with a sacred place, a world of silence, a world where everything is intertwined in an inseparable web. A world where the light always comes from outside, from above, and seeps into our reality through small windows, half-open doors, narrow corridors. A world of light, unwaning and life-giving, abundant and pure, spiritual and heavenly. Giorgos Taxidis’s images open up to this world of silence and light, invoking a deeper, more essential communication, through painterly values, through the pure gaze of an untainted and humble look, a gaze that reveals things as they are. Or as they should be: divine in their simplicity.”

The exhibition is accompanied by the catalogue of the same name, with the complete works of George Taxidis, with texts by curator Yannis Bolis and David Ebony, former general manager of Art in America magazine and editor of leading art magazines in the USA.

Ιερά Μονή Ιβήρων, φιάλη Λάδι σε μουσαμά 60 × 40 cm 2024

David Eboby writes, among other things, “The artist recorded his experiences in visual media, creating over a hundred drawings, watercolours and paintings during the project. At the same time he kept a diary in which he vividly described the natural environment, his personal impressions and the psychological impact of this sacred place on him. The artist’s life resembles in many ways the life of the monk in terms of solitude, and in the environment of Mount Athos, Taxiides was often alone. During the pandemic, there was a special quietness in the monasteries that lent itself to contemplation. For this reason, the artist gave this exhibition the title “Mount Athos. A Place of Silence“.

During the entire artistic program, Giorgos Taxidis kept a diary, which is included in the exhibition catalog. In it, he records the unique experiential journey he lived:

“At Mount Athos, I allowed myself to assimilate what I saw without forcing myself to paint what I had already mastered in the past. I came into conflict with my artistic work to create something new, something I had never painted before. In a way, I thought that a monk and an artist, despite the distance between them, nevertheless live parallel lives: all this inner struggle, the purpose of a life, the dedication and devotion to the work. The patience and prayer of each in their own way. Above all, the achievement of a work in the most genuine way. ‘We too seek “the true light”‘ (Diary, June 4, 2021).”

Ιερά Μονή Βατοπεδίου, εσωτερικό Μολύβι σε χαρτί 44 × 25.5 cm 2023

Bio

Giorgos Taxidis was born in 1987. He studied at the Department of Fine and Applied Arts of the School of Fine Arts at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2010–2015), graduating with honors. He attended courses at the School of Fine Arts in Madrid (UCM, Facultad de Bellas Artes) through the Erasmus program (2013–2014). He completed postgraduate studies with a scholarship at the New York Academy of Art (2017–2019) and has received a total of 12 scholarships, including from the Fulbright Foundation, NEON Organization, and the Georgios Varkas Bequest, among others.In 2012, he received a commendation from the Hellenic Post (ELTA) for the Europa 2012 stamp series, and in 2014 he won first prize in the Art and The City 5 competition in Athens. In 2018, his work was selected for the XL Catlin Art Prize competition, and in 2019 he was honored with an award from the Dahesh Museum of Art in New York. That same year, he taught drawing at the School of Fine Arts in Santo Domingo. He is the designer of the award for the non-profit organization KYKLOPS. Taxidis has presented six solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions in Greece and internationally. His works are held in private collections both in Greece and abroad.

Alongside the art programme, a documentary of the artist’s visits to Mount Athos, directed and edited by Nikos Anagnostopoulos, will be screened at the exhibition.

Artistic Supervisor: Αnastasios Douros

Curator: Giannis Bolis, Art Historian

Venue: Mount Athos Center (Nedelkos Hall), Egnatia 109, 546 35 Thessaloniki Τ. 2310263308 

Duration: 24 June till 11 October 2025

Days-Opening Hours: Monday, Wednesday 09.00–16.00 / Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 09.00–20.00 / Saturday 09.00–15:00 / Sundays closed

During the period 28 July – 16 August 2025 Monday to Friday: 09.00-16.00 (Saturday and Sunday: Closed)

During the exhibition, guided tours are available to pupils, students and organised groups. For more information call 2310263308.

Admission is free