HRH Prince Nikolaos of Greece : NOSTOS
NEW YORK – Ethan Cohen Gallery is pleased to present NOSTOS, HRH Prince Nikolaos’s first solo exhibition in New York, curated by Marilena Koutsoukou.
NOSTOS showcases a fusion of ethereal black and white photography and luminous marble. The artist embeds abstract and elemental images onto marble, beckoning observers to dwell in the ephemeral realm between the tangible and the visionary. With the artist’s unique method of printing photography directly onto marble, the viewer is immersed in the Greek essence of sculpture, sand, sea, and light, encapsulated in a timeless cascade.
The word ‘nostos’ which refers to the theme of homecoming or return in Greek literature and mythology, is a concept that is deeply ingrained in Greek culture and collective consciousness. From the epic poems of Homer, particularly ‘The Odyssey’, the exploration of themes of longing, belonging, and the search for identity, holds significant importance in the work of Prince Nikolaos. He draws inspiration from the idea of returning to one’s roots and reclaiming a sense of home.
NOSTOS represents a journey of self-discovery and remembrance, both on a personal and collective level. It serves as a metaphor for exploring memories, history, and tradition, reflecting on the past while looking towards the future.
Prince Nikolaos frequently depicts the Greek landscape and its natural beauty, exploring the connection between himself and his environment. NOSTOS becomes a way to reconnect with the land, the sea, and the sky, evoking a sense of place and belonging. For many Greeks, especially those in the diaspora, ‘nostos’ takes on added significance as they navigate questions of identity, belonging, and displacement. Prince Nikolaos often addresses these themes of migration, diaspora, and the longing for home in his work, by selecting as his themes, images of the Greek sky, sea and light, but also the Greek earth itself. At the same time, the artist creates new narratives that resonate with contemporary audiences, using ‘nostos’ as a lens through which to explore timeless human experiences.
In NOSTOS, Prince Nikolaos presents a dynamic dialogue of eloquent and vibrant monochromatic marble photographs with a series of limited-edition design pieces created in collaboration with Stefanidou Tsoukala Gallery and Alexandra Stratou, that seamlessly connects the worlds of photography and design, inviting audiences to explore the intersection of aesthetics and functionality. Printing on marble, a method unique to the artist, who pushes the boundaries of photography and the printing process, has enabled him to combine the Greek natural element and the beauty of antiquity, with the modernity of digital printing, creating multifaceted design artworks. Paired with new black and white photographs on paper, the artist uses this distraction from color to emphasize his form and composition, focusing the attention of the viewer on the fundamental elements of the artworks.
Isleberg, 2022
Methexiisand, 2019
About HRH Prince Nikolaos of Greece
HRH Prince Nikolaos was born on 1 October 1969, in Rome, Italy. His parents, TM King Constantine and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece, had moved there in 1967. In 1975 the family settled in London, where Prince Nikolaos was home-educated for six years. He then attended the Hellenic College of London. In 1988 he began his studies in international relations at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, focusing on Diplomacy and National Security. During his sophomore year, he took a sabbatical to join the British Army on a Short Service Limited Commission, serving as 2nd Lieutenant with the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. Upon his college graduation (1993), Prince Nikolaos moved into TV production in New York. He returned to London in 1995 to work in the foreign exchange options department of NatWest Markets. From 1997 to 2003 he worked in King Constantine’s Family Office. Since then, he has been active in business consulting.
An avid photographer for all his life, Prince Nikolaos has passionately dedicated himself to photography since 2013. In March 2016 his photography was featured at The New York Times ‘Art for Tomorrow’ conference in Doha, Qatar. A selection of his photographs were also published in the book ‘A Taste of Greece’, published by teNeues. In June 2018, Prince Nikolaos had his first solo museum exhibition, titled ‘Phos: A Journey of Light’, at the Hellenic Museum in Melbourne, Australia. The artist was then commissioned by LA Organic, to produce a work, after the recommendation of Philippe Starck studio, which is currently exhibited at La Almazara, Spain.
In March of 2019, his collection titled ‘Celestial Choreography’, was exhibited in Rundetaarn. In October and November of the same year, his dual exhibition ‘Aegean Desert’ opened up in Athens, Greece and Doha, Qatar, respectively. The exhibition was the first institutional collaboration between Benaki Museum of Islamic Art in Athens and Katara – Cultural village Foundation in Doha.
In June of 2021, Prince Nikolaos exhibited his work ‘Together’ at the London Design Biennale 2021. There, he presented an enchanted, immersive scene of illuminated, life-sized olive trees reflected in mirrors and surrounded by sounds of Greek nature.
His fifth major solo exhibition ‘Resilience’ opened in Chicago in September 2022 at the National Hellenic Museum.
In April 2023, the artist was invited to exhibit his works on Marble, at EXPO CHICAGO. ‘Resilience’ made its Canadian premiere in June 2023. In December 2023, he presented his work ‘Dialogue: Design in Art’ at the Stefanidou Tsoukala Gallery, where he exhibited limited edition design pieces. In January 2024, he exhibited for the first time with Ethan Cohen Gallery, at Art Palm Beach.
About Ethan Cohen Gallery
From the very beginning, Ethan Cohen Gallery has represented a pioneering blend of both emerging and internationally renowned artists. Many of the emerging artists have now become household names. Mr. Cohen has steered the gallery to occupy a distinct place in contemporary art as a center of innovation across disciplines and countries. Today Ethan Cohen Gallery has three gallery locations, two in Chelsea in the heart of New York City and the other in Beacon, New York.
Ethan Cohen first founded his gallery in 1987 as Art Waves/Ethan Cohen in SoHo, New York. A groundbreaker in the field of contemporary Chinese art, Ethan Cohen was the first gallerist to present the Chinese Avant-Garde of the 1980s to the United States. Ethan Cohen Gallery today represents a diverse global mix of contemporary and post-war contemporary art, specializing in contemporary Asian art and contemporary African art.
Gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 6pm.