Jannis Kounellis

Born in 1936 in Piraeus, Greece, Jannis Kounellis considers himself to be “a Greek person but an Italian artist." He moved to Italy in 1956 and studied at the ‘Academia di Belle Arti’ in Rome, where he has his first solo show, titled L’alfabeto di Kounellis, at the Galleria la Tartaruga, Rome, in 1960. Influenced by Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana, whose work provided an alternative to the expressive nature of Art Informel, Kounellis sought to redefine the boundaries of painting. His approach gradually shifted towards a more sculptural direction, incorporating found objects into his canvases by 1963. After a two-year break from painting, he emerged in 1967 as a significant figure in the nascent ‘Arte Povera’ movement, where his art evolved into a fusion of painting, sculpture, collage, and installation. Characterized by the unconventional combination of disparate materials, such as soil, stones, sacks, fire, live animals, bed frames, and doorways, Kounellis's work challenges traditional notions of painting and gallery space, pushing the boundaries of artistic expression.

Kounellis made his debut at the Venice Biennale in 1972, followed by solo exhibitions in various European museums in the same year, including the Stedelijk Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven, the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London, and the Caja de Pensiones in Madrid. Subsequent significant exhibitions include showcases at the Musée National d'Art Moderne de la Ville in Paris in 1980, the CAPC in Bordeaux in 1985, and a major exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago the following year.

His works are housed in numerous prominent museums across Europe, Asia, and America. Throughout the early 21st century, Kounellis continued to hold exhibitions across Europe, including at the Monnaie de Paris in 2016, and expanded his artistic reach to Russia, Mexico, and China, creating remarkable site-specific installations on each occasion. Jannis Kounellis passed away on February 16, 2017, in Rome.