Jannis Kounellis

Jannis Kounellis was born in Piraeus, Greece, in 1936. In 1956 he moved to Rome, where he lives and works. One of the protagonists of the Arte Povera movement, in the mid-sixties he started to define his visual grammar through the use of natural elements such as coal, wood and fire, which are often used in association with metals such as iron and lead. Among the most memorable shows is the 1969 exhibit held in the gallery L’Attico in Rome, where he displayed twelve living horses. In more recent years Kounellis has used large plates of iron, on which he collects several elements. The layering process which characterizes his work conveys the concepts of identity and memory, which are expressed also in the re-elaboration of suggestions from classical antiquity. Among the museums that have hosted his exhibitions, the GNAM in Rome (2002), the Madre in Naples (2006), the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin (2007), the Musée de Saint-Etienne (2014). A selection of his essays has been published in the book Odissea lagunare (1993).

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