Venice: The Embassy of Greece and the Hellenic Institute Present George Petrides’ Hellenic Heads

Sculptor George Petrides said: “I am honored that the Hellenic Heads continue to circle the globe, sharing our Greek history and culture with tens of thousands of visitors. 

In this fifth stop, in Venice, I am humbled that my works are just a few steps from the treasures of Greek culture which are exhibited in the Museum of icons, including a collection of important Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons, manuscripts and liturgical and other objects, and the Church of St. George of the Greeks, whose construction was started by Greeks in 1548, while Michelangelo was creating his masterpieces, and continues to serve the Greek Orthodox Community - the oldest non-Italian community in Venice. 

I am grateful to Ambassador of Greece in Rome Eleni Sourani, Hellenic Institute President Vasileios Koukousas, Honorary Consul General of Greece in Venice Bruno

Bernardi, President of the Greek Orthodox Community in Venice Dimitrios Zafeiropoulos, Archbishop of Italy Polykarpos and Cultural Manager Eleftheria Gkoufa for their generous support.” 

The Hellenic Heads are six oversized busts standing over two meters tall on their bases, each inspired by a period of Greek history ranging from Classical Greece, the Byzantine Empire, the Greek War of Independence, the Burning of Smyrna, the Nazi Occupation and Holocaust, to present day. 

For each period, Petrides studied masterpieces by sculptors such as Michelangelo and Rodin, as well as archeological artifacts, academic sources and historical photographs. Then, he asked a family member to pose for each piece—some live and some from photographs and memory. 

Timelessness is further emphasized by the perennial themes addressed by each work, such as the mirroring of female military leaders in the Greek War of Independence with the role of female leadership today; and the head honoring Greek Jews murdered by Nazis, shockingly relevant as antisemitism, is again on the rise. There is deep symbolism in the work referring to the plight of the refugees who fled the burning Smyrna 100 years ago and those fleeing violence today. 

Hellenic Heads is a traveling exhibition, with Venice being its fifth stop. Three more venues will follow, in Europe and Asia, for a total of eight around the world. It debuted at the Embassy of Greece to the USA in Washington, D.C. for Europe Day 2022, then traveled to the National Hellenic Museum in Chicago, Illinois (installation photos may be seen here). In parallel, an extensive catalog has been produced, which combines presentations of the historical periods with Petrides' sculptures.

The Greek Embassy in Rome is the center of Hellenism in Italy (see Πρεσβεία της Ελλάδος στη Ρώμη - Ελληνική Δημοκρατία - Η Ελλάδα στην Ιταλία and Ambasciata di Grecia a Roma - Πρεσβεία της Ελλάδος στη Ρώμη | Rome). The Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Studies of Venice, Greece's only scientific and research institution abroad, has one of the most important collections of Byzantine and post-Byzantine icons in Italy (more information, including opening hours for the public, on its website https://istitutoellenico.org). 

The historic Greek Orthodox Community of Venice has been active continuously from the Middle Ages to the present day. (see Comunità dei Greci Ortodossi in Venezia - Ελληνική Κοινότητα Βενετίας). The Archdiocese of Italy was founded in 1991; under its jurisdiction are Greek and other Orthodox communities in Italy (see Μητρόπολη - Sacra Arcidiocesi Ortodossa d'Italia). Next to the Hellenic Institute is the Orthodox Church of St. George (San Giorgio dei Greci), which can be visited at the same time as the exhibition.

George Petrides: 
Born in Athens, Greece in 1964 and raised there and in New York, George Petrides creates a diverse range of sculpture, including abstract pieces and monumental public works. He is steeped in ancient Greek sculpture and the works that were influenced by it, such as ancient Roman sculpture, Renaissance sculptors, as well as 20th-century modernists who re-interpreted these traditions. 

His creative process is of his own invention, combining ancient and contemporary methods, including traditional clay modeling by hand, use of software and 3D printing, and bronze-casting in the manner of the ancient Greeks. He lives in New York and Athens. 

Petrides is also known for his large scale public sculptures. During the centennial of the burning of Smyrna, his sculpture Refugee -- an enlargement of the Hellenic Head Refugee – was unveiled in an Athens neighborhood, Neo Psychiko, where refugees settled in the 1920s. 

Presently, his statue Mother and Child is being erected in central Athens on the campus of Aretaieion Hospital, part of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Aretaieion provides high quality medical care to women, in addition to general surgery, at no charge. The statue, 2.6 meters tall, will be unveiled during the celebration of Mothers Day, 12 May 2024.