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Janis Kounellis

Born – Piraeus, Greece 1936

 

Ages twenty, Janis Kounellis moved form Greece to Rome where he studied at the Accademia delle Belle Arti and became familiar with the work of modern Italian painters such as Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana. In 1958, he embarked on a series of large paintings on paper that used graphic signs, numbers and letters. Two years later, these formed the basis for his first solo exhibition in Rome, where Kounellis literally accompanied his work by chanting notations derived from his paintings. In 1966, he started to make three-dimensional work in the form of installation and performances. In 1969, he tethered twelve horses to the Galleria L’Attico in an enquiry into the nature of certainty and chance. His temporary installations used commonplace but unusual sculptural materials such as cotton, coal and fire. In the late 1960s, he became the leading figure in Arte Povera, a post-minimalist art movement associated with the production of works from freely-available materials. In the late 1970s, Kounsellis introduced classical motifs into his work. His recent large-scale, site-specific installations have made use of roughly-hewn wood, charcoal and bells, referencing nostalgia for a historical and cultural past. He lives and works in Rome.

 

Masterpieces:

• Untitled 1987
• Untitled 1979

Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.

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