Jannis Kounellis in Six Acts

Six decades of sculptural innovation from the Arte Povera pioneer and alchemist of the everyday

Over the course of more than five decades, Jannis Kounellis developed a singular practice across painting, works on paper, sculpture, installation and hybrid works combining objects with live performance. Playing a central role in the Italian Arte Povera movement of the 1960s and early 1970s, Kounellis created wide-ranging and innovative works exploring theater, migration, history, politics and other themes, which continue to influence subsequent generations of artists.
Published by the Walker Art Center for the first US Kounellis survey in over 35 years, Jannis Kounellis in Six Acts offers the most comprehensive assessment of his career to date. The richly illustrated catalog, assembled with the full cooperation of the artist’s estate and archive, presents a first-of-its-kind collection of visual materials and Kounellis’ writings, including image-based exhibition and performance chronologies. The volume also features essays by Vincenzo de Bellis, Claire Gilman, Kit Hammonds and Ara H. Merjian.
Jannis Kounellis (1936–2017) was born in Piraeus, Greece. In 1956, he moved to Rome and by 1960 was an active member of the Arte Povera movement. In 1969 he created one of his best-known works: the installation of 12 live horses in the gallery L’Attico in Rome. Kounellis’ first New York solo show was in 1972. Recent exhibitions have been held at the Museum of Cycladic Art, Athens, Greece (2012) and the Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany (2007), among others.