Born in Greece, but living in Italy since 1956, Kounellis has been a major figure in contemporary art for over fifty years. The artist is often referred to as one of the forefathers of the Arte Povera movement – a movement that arose in the 1960s and played a central role in redefining artistic practice with radical and highly original sculpture, performance and installation. Influenced by artists such as Alberto Burri, Lucio Fontana, Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, and both within the context of Arte Povera and outside of it, Kounellis has throughout his career interrogated and extended the boundaries of contemporary art, and in particular the possibilities of painting. Although most of his works are three-dimensional and comprised of ready-made objects (sometimes even living objects – horses, birds and humans), Kounellis has always insisted he is a painter first and foremost.
Jannis Kounellis
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Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm
78 3/4 x 70 7/8 inches -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, coal
200 x 180 cm
78 3/4 x 70 7/8 inches -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, burlap, cables
104 x 73,5 x 22 cm
41 x 28 7/8 inches -
Jannis Kounellis, Black Rose, 1965-66
Ducotone on canvas
210 x 210 cm
82 5/8 x 82 5/8 inches -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2013
Steel and coal
200 x 180 x 27,3 cm
78 3/4 x 70 7/8 x 10 3/4 inches
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Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 1960
Tempera on cardboard
72,7 x 101,7 cm
28 5/8 x 40 inches
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Jannis Kounellis, Remo, 1961
Oil on cardboard
73,5 x 104 x 22 cm
28 7/8 x 41 x 8 5/8 inches -
Jannis Kounellis, Black Rose, 1965-66
Ducotone on canvas
210 x 210 cm
82 5/8 x 82 5/8 inches -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Mixed media
104 x 73,5 x 22 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Mixed media
100 x 69,5 x 22 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, melted lead
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, string
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, string
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 1968
Juta bags, coal -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, enamel
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Painted iron plate, iron
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, coal
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, enamel
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Painted iron plate, iron
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, coal
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, enamel
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, coal
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Painted iron plate, iron
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Painted iron plate, iron
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, canvas, oil
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Painted iron plate, iron
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2014
Iron, coal
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2013
Iron, string
200 x 180 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2005
Steel brace, tar, paper on steel plate
200 x 200 cm -
Jannis Kounellis, Untitled, 2008
Lead, casted Murano glass, iron wire, coats on steel panel
200 x 180 cm
Exhibitions
Museum Exhibitions
Selected press
- 'THE 10 STRONGEST PIECES FROM ART BASEL 2016', Crash Magazine, June 18th, 2016 — 83.6 kB
- 'Portfolio Jannis Kounellis', Crash, n° 75, Spring 2016 — 1.2 MB
- Daniel Brignon, 'Du massif au transparent, le nouvel accrochage au musée d'Art moderne', L'ESSOR AFFICHES, October 23th, 2014 — 367.6 kB
- Nathalie Kuborn, 'Jannis Kounellis', L'EVENTAIL, April 2014 — 321.8 kB
- Guy Gilsoul, 'L'arte povera de Kounellis', Le Vif, April 13, 2014 — 512.4 kB
- Sam Steverlynck, Kounellis in Kleur', Agenda (Brussel Deze Week), April 4, 2014 — 109.5 kB
- Rudi Fuchs, 'De menselijke maat Kijken', De Groene Amsterdammer, April 2, 2014 — 117.3 kB
- Christine Vuegen, 'Jannis Kounellis in Almine Rech Gallery, Brussel: Met de Handen in de Verfpotten', HArt, March 27, 2014 — 388.0 kB
- Claude Lorent, 'Toute la force classique de l'art', ARTS LIBRE (Libre Belgique), March 21, 2014 — 449.9 kB
- Despina Zefkili, 'Jannis Kounellis', FRIEZE, May 30th, 2012 — 328.5 kB
- Robert C. Morgan, 'Jannis Kounellis: Hard Materials, Transcendent Light', ARTCRITICAL, November 1st, 2010 — 74.3 kB
- Coline Milliard, ‘Universal Soldier’, ART REVIEW, May 2010 — 575.2 kB
- Laura Cumming, 'Jannis Kounellis', THE OBSERVER, April 25th, 2010 — 97.8 kB
- Michele Robecchi, 'Jannis Kounellis: Non-Verbal Communication', ART PULSE MAGAZINE, 2010 — 1.1 MB
- Kenneth Baker, ‘Jannis Kounellis’, ART AUCTION, January 2009 — 3.8 MB
- ‘La liberta o morte’, HERNING MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, 2009 — 354.2 kB
- J. S. Marcus, ‘Inside a Labyrinth, an Artist’s Obsessions’, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, January 4th, 2008 — 137.2 kB
- Andrea Bellini, ‘Man and Myth’, FLASH ART, April 2007 — 3.4 MB
- Alfred Mac Adam, ‘Jannis Kounellis’, ART NEWS, January 2007 — 338.5 kB
- ‘Winter Fiction Issue’, THE NEW YORKER, December 2006 — 212.9 kB
- Jean Tourangeau, ‘De l’Arte povera à aujourd’hui’, VIE DES ARTS, 1988 — 739.7 kB