Like many of his generation in Europe, Jannis Kounellis (b. 1936)
experienced war at close quarters throughout his childhood; first during the
German Nazi/Italian Fascist occupation [subjugation] of Greece, and then the
civil war that erupted in the power vacuum when the occupiers were defeated in
1943. One of the first Cold War conflicts, the war lasted until 1949, when
Kounellis was 13 years old. Seven years later in 1956 at the age of 20,
Kounellis left his native Piraeus and moved to Rome.
Kounellis’ art is a brutal moral insistence but also an affirmation of
freedom.
Jannis Kounellis first came to prominence in the late 50s with his
Alphabets, expanses of color with letters, numbers, typographical symbols and
road markings superimposed. In 1967, he became associated with Arte Povera; his
work characterized by the use of real, concrete objects of a place or
community, such as clothing, furniture, and ships, as well as living organisms.
His work appeared in key exhibitions as Live in your Head. When Attitudes
Become Form, Kunsthalle, Bern; Arte Povera: 13 italienische Künstler,
Kunstverein, Monaco (1971); '60-'80: attitudes / concepts / images, Stedelijk
Museum, Amsterdam (1982); and Transformations in Sculpture. Four decades of
American and European Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (1985). Most
recently, his installation Untitled (12 Horses) was presented at Gavin Brown’s
enterprise in 2015.
Info
Venue name: Gavin Brown’s Enterprise
Address: 439 W 127th St New York City 10027
Cross street: Between Amsterdam Ave and Convent Ave
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 10am–6pmTransport: A, B, C, D to 125th Street
Venue name: Gavin Brown’s Enterprise
Address: 439 W 127th St New York City 10027
Cross street: Between Amsterdam Ave and Convent Ave
Opening hours: Tue-Sat 10am–6pmTransport: A, B, C, D to 125th Street
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