Yorgo Valyrakis (b. 1953, Chania, Crete) is a visual artist and graphic designer, BFA ’84, The Cooper Union, New York. He believes that art is our connection with others, engaging creativity and emotional intelligence to fill in the gaps of form, meaning, and substance.
After working as a graphic designer and art director in New York, he established designWorks in Athens in 1993, collaborating with a wide range of cultural and commercial clients. His paintings have been exhibited in galleries in New York City.
Through expressive brushstrokes and insinuated forms, his work invites the viewer to connect the dots and create their own visual narratives. Humour and satire often surface, as he believes, humour is a uniquely human unifier.
Currently shuffling between Athens and New York, he is trying to paint a few masterpieces before retiring to a beach hut to collect shells and stones. A jazz aficionado, he urges us to fill in the blanks, and enjoy.