“Hellenic Heads” by George Petrides at the National Hellenic Museum/Photo courtesy of the museum
A new exhibition at National Hellenic Museum from George Petrides explores six periods of Greek history: the Classical Greek period, the Byzantine period, the Greek War of Independence, the Destruction of Smyrna, the Nazi Occupation and Greek Civil War, and the present.
“Hellenic Heads” includes six oversized busts inspired by both a sculptural precedent and personal relationships—his mother, father, grandmother, daughter, and a former partner. A self-sculpture of Petrides rounds out the group.
“The Refugee,” one of the Hellenic Heads by George Petrides at the National Hellenic Museum/Photo courtesy of the museum
Petrides uses mixed media for most of his work, and “Hellenic Heads” is no exception, with a marriage of epoxy clay, plastic, metals and custom patinas. The height of the heads lends a sense of reverence to the experience, in searching them for wisdom or a sense of connection to something deeper.
The texture, in particular, has an intimate quality, which is directly linked to Petrides’ preference to work as much as possible by hand and use as few tools as possible. The heads include hand marks, thumbprints, pinches and other etchings. His pieces seem less like an industrial design of some sculptural work and more like a handmade object. It’s not a functional item, but it feels more immediate.
The history imbued in his subjects never veers completely into academic study, but the themes infuse them.
The expanding Ottoman Empire in 1919 pushed Greek people out—they left, their homes were burned and they ended up in what is now mainland Greece. Petrides’ grandmother was such a person and she went from a prosperous upper-middle-class background to living on the streets with whatever she was wearing on her back.
In one Hellenic Head, called “The Refugee: To Lose and To Rebuild,” Petrides’ grandmother, Maria, is imagined at age nineteen arriving in Pireus, Greece from Smyrna. The piece is meant to convey “the shock of losing her world” and “dignity in accepting and rebuilding.”
The exhibition moves in chronological order, with his daughter’s sculpture titled “Kore”—she posed at twelve years old—as the last. Looking at her face, with the blue and brass hues, her eyes are curious and perhaps a bit puzzled. I ask Petrides about this distinction.
“It’s like she’s looking to the future,” he says. “A little puzzled as to what is Greece today. What is this history but also in a way disconnected from the others.”
“Heroines of 1821,” one of the Hellenic Heads by George Petrides at the National Hellenic Museum/Photo courtesy of the museum
The calm oceanic blue commonly seen in Greek art is present here but it doesn’t overwhelm the exhibit. For “Thalia,” he uses the Greek blue; for “Archon” and “The Refugee,” he uses a copper/iron-like color; for “The Heroines of 1821,” we see teal; for his self-posed sculpture, it looks burnt; and for “Kore,” he goes with a much brighter mix of color.
Unlike many artists who leave interpretation up to the audience, Petrides acts as more of a guiding force. Each piece includes months of research baked into it, and as an exhibit, it exudes personal aspects, historical analysis and, simply, education for the non-Greek audience. There is much to learn about Greek history: the revolution, dislocation, the role of women, and the way forward as just some central topics, but “Hellenic Heads” is an intimate starting course.
“Ultimately, this feeling of being displaced is universal,” Petrides says. “Everyone can take something from this.”
“Hellenic Heads,” on view at National Hellenic Museum, 333 South Halsted, through December 10.
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