today i began work on a small (15x4.5”) gouache painting] for an exhibition titled athens endochora, opening december 4 in a new venue in the mets neighborhood of athens. the intention is to exhibit paintings by well known greek artists ( and one american) focusing on what is left of neoclassical athens. when i first arrived in 1963, there were still a large number of beautiful neoclassical structures in athens. slowly, they were thoughtlessly demolished, with ugly, characterless cement appartment buildings taking their place. with my then mother-in-law, painter niki karagatsi, wife of the famed author d. karagatsis, we regularly went to neighborhoods in athens & piraeus and made paintings, many of which included these buildings. i was asked by nikos vatopoulos, a well known athenian writer to participate in this show, preferably with a painting made within the last 2 years. so i’m woking on this painting of the athinaion café in the thision neighborhood near the acropolis. i’ll send it off as soon as it’s complete.