It’s not every day one sees an art exhibition by a prince, but the National Hellenic Museum is hosting “Resilience” with work by HRH Prince Nikolaos, Prince of Greece and Denmark. Foremost on the prince’s mind are his country and the future of the environment. Considering that Greece is surrounded completely by ocean waters, it’s no wonder he is concerned. All the work in this lavishly presented show is about the environment and its relation to Greece.
There are lovely, colorful images of ocean waves—meditative and peaceful, and a fair share of images of golden olive oil, one of Greece’s major exports, which is of course, also subject to the condition of the environment. The prince, the third child of the last king and queen of Greece, is proud of his country, of the resilience of the Greek people, as the work shows, but he’s also worried for its future as well as the future of the earth.
The standout piece, “Sea Cred,”is near the beginning—272 credit card-sized photographs form a grid that in turn mimics a credit card printed with ocean waves. The shock is that each of those credit card-sized pieces, which are formed out of reclaimed ocean plastic, is the amount of plastic the average person swallows each week of their lives. For the piece, Prince Nikolaos collaborated with the nonprofit Parley for the Oceans and their partner Giesecke + Devrient, using Parley Ocean Plastic materials.
A second piece, “Together,” is a projected installation in a darkened gallery showing two beautiful olive trees entwined. The image appears to glow from within, like an infrared photograph, and benches allow the viewer to sit and absorb the tableau. Crickets chirp, and a steady sound, presumably olive oil dripping into a vat, completes the immersive experience. Again, the piece references the resilience of the Greek people and the islands themselves.
Born in 1969 in Rome, Nikolaos was raised in London, studied diplomacy and national security at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and now lives with his wife, Tatiana, in Athens, where he is active in business consulting and photography. He began making photographs as a child, but became very serious in 2013. His first solo museum show was in 2018 and he has shown his work frequently since then in multiple global venues.
A quotation on his website describes his philosophy perfectly: “Nature is the artist—I am just the messenger.” I think his message is clear: Now is the time to care for our world before the beauty of Greece and the oceans he has captured for this show vanish entirely along with the rest of the earth.
“Resilience” at the National Hellenic Museum, 333 South Halsted. Through April 16, 2023.
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