JANNIS KOUNELLIS. XXII Stations on an Odyssey

This book presents the definitive retrospective of the avant-garde European artist Jannis Kounellis’ work as seen within its spatial context.

Born in Greece in 1936, Jannis Kounellis witnessed some of the most tumultuous periods in Modern art and radically impacted the art scene since the 1960s. Based in Rome since 1956, he began working on canvas, but after his “Alphabet” paintings Kounellis abandoned the two-dimensional surface. He became a central figure of the Arte Povera movement, developing a vocabulary of modest materials such as coal, wool, and coffee, and even incorporated living animals like parrots and horses into his art. Kounellis’ work took on a spatial dimension with his poetic installations reflecting industrial and agrarian societies, as well as moral and social concerns. This riveting monograph includes an in-depth and richly illustrated survey of 22 projects in factories, warehouses, churches and castles all over the world, including Rome, Chicago, Barcelona, Cologne, Mexico City, Berlin, and London. Each location represents a unique event where Kounellis’ work and the architectural environment merge to create a dialogue between the artist and the space. The book offers readers a unique opportunity to observe the evolution of Kounellis’ work as the artist explored increasingly unconventional—and often controversial—methods for delivering his social and political messages.