Michael McGregor - Memories of Hydra

Created at breakneck speed on the island of Hydra in the days leading up to the publication of The Greece Notebook (Hyper Hypo, 2023), Memories of Hydra is a collection of instant sketches and improvised texts. Through discreet observations and imagined narratives, the artist sketches a sensitive memory of the island, marked by its cultural richness. A true love letter to a place that offered McGregor light, beauty, and joy.

The book pays tribute to the cultural figures drawn to Hydra's magnetism—from Nikos Hadjikyriakos-Ghika to Henry Miller, Leonard Cohen, and Patrick Leigh Fermor—blending spontaneous lines, vibrant colors, and gentle humor.

"I remember walking down from Four Corners toward Kamini, overcome by the heat. I came across a little girl picking berries, her face stained red, purple, and blue. She looked happy. Her T-shirt said "Happy"."  Michael McGregor

This work bears witness to an essential part of the artist's practice when he leaves his Los Angeles studio. Sketchbooks and hotel stationery then become the preferred supports for capturing ideas and impressions. Memories of Hydra continues this in situ approach by publishing these sketchbooks in their entirety, raw fragments that later nourish more ambitious works, created from afar, when memories begin to fade.

Note: the book is entirely in English.

• Author: Michael McGregor
• Publisher: Hyper Hypo
• Pages: 48
• Format: 24 × 32 cm
• Cover: Softcover
• Categories: Greece, Greek creator, Greek publisher, art, travel