Kounellis Jannis

This newfound convergence of painting, sculpture, and performance was Kounellis‘ way out of traditional art By 1961 he began to paint on newspaper to reflect his feelings towards modern society and politics From 1963, Kounellis introduced found objects in his artworks, among them live animals but also fire, earth, burlap sacks, and gold He replaced the canvas with bed frames, doorways, windows or simply the gallery itself Kounellis’ work from the 1980s, which also consisted of sculptures and performances using unusual materials, traveled all over Europe In 1974, he performed with Edward Kienholz, Wolf Vostell and other artists in Berlin at the ADA – Aktionen der Avantgarde His work has become integral to numerous renowned, international museums’ collections
In 1967, Kounellis became associated with Arte Povera, a movement theorized by curator Germano Celant as a major shift from work on flat surfaces to installations Kounellis participated in the exhibition Arte Povera – e IM Spazio at the La Bertesca Gallery in Genoa curated by Celant, which brought together artists whose work was concerned with the space between art and life, and nature and culture Examples of artists who substantiated this basis of Arte Povera as a movement include Alighiero Boetti, Luciano Fabro, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali and Emilio Prini To solidify the movement, Celant curated yet another group show, Arte Povera, which was exhibited at the De’ Foscherari gallery in Bologna in 1968 with similar artists In the same year Kounellis exhibited Senza titolo (Untitled), which consisted of raw wool, rope and a wooden structure all leaning against a wall Finally, Kounellis was also included in RA3 Arte Povera + Azioni povere which was organized by Marcello Rumma and curated by Celant
In 1967, Kounellis installed Live birds in cages along with rose-shaped, cloth cut-outs pinned to canvas alongside his painting Through this shift in his work, Kounellis was more interested in anarchical freedom from linguistic norms and conventional materials The space of the gallery and the exhibition site in general were transformed into a stage where real life and fiction could join in a suspension of disbelief The viewers became part of the scene of these living natural sources of energy within the gallery space He continued his involvement with live animals later in 1969, when he exhibited twelve living horses, as if they were cars, in the Galleria l’Attico’s new location in an old garage in Via Beccaria Gradually, Kounellis introduced new materials, such as propane torches, smoke, coal, meat, ground coffee, lead, and found wooden objects into his installations He also looked beyond the gallery environment to historical (mostly industrial) sites In 1997, Kounellis installed thirteen wardrobes and two doors that were sealed in lead along a scaffolding ledge that blocked the entry to a central hall In 1968, in an interview by Marisa Volpi, Kounellis stated that incidental adjustments are certain as aspects that can indicate the human liberty of life
In October 2009, Kounellis exhibited many works at Tate Modern Gallery in London, United Kingdom Jonathan Jones of The Guardian newspaper noted that his Dry-stone walling, sacks of grain and rice, and a painting that includes part of the score of St John Passion by JS Bach, bring a sense of real life, organic and ancient, into the museum
On 16 February 2017, Kounellis died at the Villa Mafalda hospital in Rome

From Wikipedia