Jannis Kounellis

Sculptor, painter and performancer, Jannis Kounellis (Greece, 1936) is one of the leading representatives of Arte Povera. He works with pure materials, that are unprocessed, and also with elements related to trade and transport. With his materials, he has developed an architectural vocabulary that creates environments that represent the tension and alienation of contemporary society.

Kounellis, who lives in Rome since 1956, works with objects as unusual as birds, cacti, coats, shoes, hats, brass bells, oil lamps, musical instruments, cups and bottles, grinded coffee, pieces of meat, knives, jute bags, dried flowers, sewing machines or wood from demolished buildings, also with such basic materials as cotton or coal, in a memory to what of the Industrial Revolution represented.