Solo exhibition of the art of George Petrides at the Embassy of Greece, Washington DC

The show features larger than life-size sculptures inspired by six key periods in Hellenic history

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Embassy of Greece in the U.S. is pleased to present the traveling exhibition “Hellenic Heads: George Petrides”. The exhibition will be on view in the Embassy’s exhibition space from May 9 to June 10, 2022.

Marking the centennial of the Destruction of Smyrna in 1922 and the bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence, Petrides presents a personal exploration into his Greek background, seeking to understand the cultural influences that have shaped him and the people closest to him. Starting with a rigorous research process, including archaeological artifacts, academic sources, family stories and historical photographs, Petrides studied six important periods from 2,500 years ago to the present:

– Classical Greek Period (510 BC to 323 BC)
– Byzantine Period (330 AD to 1453 AD)
– Greek War of Independence (1821 to 1829)
– Destruction of Smyrna (1922)
– Nazi occupation and Greek Civil War (1941 to 1949)
– The Present

George Petrides is an international sculptor who lives and works in New York City and Athens, Greece. He creates abstracted figurative sculpture in sizes ranging from a few inches to more than life-size, combining the timeless with the contemporary. Born in Athens in 1964 and raised there and in New York,he is steeped in ancient Greek sculpture and the works that were influenced by it (Donatello, Michelangelo, Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol, et al.) as well as the 20th-century modernists who re-interpreted these traditions. He closely follows contemporary figurative sculptors, especially those who reference ancient Greek art, such as Charles Ray and Huma Bhabha as well as the many other artists who are part of a resurgence in figurative sculpture. More information is available via www.petrides.art.

You can visit the exhibition from May 9 to June 10, 2022 from 11:00am to 3:00pm (closed on May 16,17 and on weekends).
Address:  Embassy of Greece, 2217 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC