Jannis Kounellis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jannis Kounellis
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Jannis Kounellis
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| Born | 23 March 1936 Piraeus, Greece
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| Died | 16 February 2017 (aged 80) Rome, Italy
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| Movement | Arte Povera |
Jannis Kounellis (born March 23, 1936 – died February 16, 2017) was a famous Greek-Italian artist. He lived and worked in Rome. Kounellis was a very important artist in a movement called Arte Povera. He studied art at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome.
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Life and Artworks
Kounellis was born in Piraeus, Greece, in 1936. He lived in Greece during World War II and the Greek Civil War. In 1956, he moved to Rome.
From 1960 to 1966, Kounellis mostly showed paintings. At first, he stenciled numbers, letters, and words onto his canvases. These often looked like advertisements or signs he saw on the street. In 1960, he started adding real objects, like street signs, to his art. He showed these at Galleria La Tartaruga.
That same year, he wore one of his stencil paintings like clothes. He performed in his studio to show how he could become part of his art. This new way of mixing painting, sculpture, and performance helped Kounellis move away from traditional art. By 1961, he began painting on newspapers. This showed his feelings about modern society and politics.
From 1963, Kounellis started using "found objects" in his art. These were everyday items that he turned into art. He used live animals, fire, earth, burlap sacks, and gold. He also stopped using traditional canvases. Instead, he used bed frames, doorways, windows, or even the art gallery itself. Kounellis's art from the 1980s, which also used unusual materials, was shown all over Europe. His work is now in many famous museums around the world.
What is Arte Povera?
In 1967, Kounellis became part of Arte Povera. This art movement was named by a curator named Germano Celant. Arte Povera means "poor art" in Italian. It was about moving away from traditional paintings and sculptures. Artists used simple, everyday materials. They wanted to show the connection between art and life, and nature and culture.
Kounellis took part in an important Arte Povera exhibition in Genoa in 1967. Other artists in this movement included Alighiero Boetti and Pino Pascali. To make the movement stronger, Celant organized another show in Bologna in 1968. Kounellis showed a piece called 'Senza titolo (Untitled)' there. It was made of raw wool, rope, and wood leaning against a wall.
In 1967, Kounellis put live birds in cages next to his paintings. He also added rose-shaped cloth cut-outs to his canvases. He wanted to be free from normal art rules and materials. The art gallery became a stage where real life and imagination could mix. Viewers became part of the art, surrounded by these living things.
In 1969, Kounellis showed twelve live horses in a gallery. It was like they were cars in an old garage. Over time, he added new materials to his art. These included propane torches, smoke, coal, meat, coffee, and lead. He also started showing his art in old industrial buildings, not just galleries. In 1997, he made an artwork with thirteen wardrobes and two doors sealed in lead. They blocked the entrance to a main hall.
Art Shows
Kounellis's art has been shown in many places around the world.
Solo Exhibitions
These are shows where only Kounellis's art was displayed:
- 1960: La Tartaruga gallery, Rome
- 1969: Attico Gallery, Rome
- 1981: Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
- 1982: Whitechapel Gallery, London
- 1988: Castle of Rivoli, Turin
- 1996: Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid
- 2005: Albertina, Vienna
- 2007: Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin
- 2007: Kounellis - Jaffa Port, Jaffa, Israel
- 2009: Tate Modern, London
- 2012: Goulandris Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens
- 2016: Centro de Arte Contemporáneo Wifredo Lam, Havana, Cuba
- 2016: Monnaie de Paris, Paris
- 2016: The Negev Museum of Art, Beersheva, Israel
- 2019: Fondazione Prada, Venice
Arte Povera Group Shows
These are shows where Kounellis's art was shown with other Arte Povera artists:
- 1967: 'Arte Povera – e IM Spazio', La Bertesca Gallery, Genoa
- 1968: 'Arte Povera', De Foscherari gallery, Bologna
- 1968: 'RA3 Arte povera + Azioni povere', Arsenali della Republica, Amalfi
- 1969: 'Live in Your Head: When Attitudes become Form', Kunsthalle, Bern
- 1969: 'Op losse schroeven: situaties en cryptostructuren' 1969 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
- 1970: 'Conceptual Art, Arte Povera, Land Art', Galleria Civica d Arte Moderna, Turin
- 1982: 'Arte Povera, Antiform, Sculptures 1966–69', CAPC Centre d'Arts Plastiques Contemporains, Bordeaux
- 2001: 'Zero to infinity: Arte Povera 1962–1972', Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
International Exhibitions
Kounellis also took part in many big international art events. These include:
- The Biennale of Paris (1971)
- Documenta (1972, 1977, 1982)
- The Venice Biennale (many times between 1972 and 2011)
- The Istanbul Biennial (1993)
- The Biennale of Sydney (2008)
His art has also been shown in museums like the Kunstmuseum in Bern, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, and The Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. In 1994, Kounellis had a special exhibition called Ionion. He showed his art on a boat docked in his hometown of Piraeus, Greece. He later curated another show on a ship called Apollo in 1973.
Later Works and Life
In October 2009, Kounellis showed many artworks at the Tate Modern Gallery in London. A newspaper critic noted that his art brought a "sense of real life, organic and ancient, into the museum." He used things like dry-stone walls, sacks of grain and rice, and even part of a music score by Johann Sebastian Bach.
Jannis Kounellis passed away on February 16, 2017, in Rome.
See also
In Spanish: Jannis Kounellis para niños
