ART-PRESENTATION: Jannis Kounellis

Jannis Kounellis, DRC, 1958, © the artist, Photo © White Cube (Ben Westoby)In 1956 Jannis Kounellis moved to Rome and enrolled in the Accademia di Belle Arti. While still a student he had his first solo exhibition, titled “L’alfabeto di Kounellis”, at the Galleria la Tartaruga, Rome, in 1961. The artist exhibited black-and-white canvases that demonstrated little painterliness, on their surfaces he stencilled letters and numbers.

By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: White Cube Gallery Archive

This exhibition with works by Jannis Kounellis at White Cube Gallery, focuses on his very first works: the “Alfabeto” series of works. The exhibition is one of the most in-depth presentations to date of this historical body of work, offering a review of Kounellis’ artistic development through a reconsideration of these early masterpieces. The selection also features several other works on paper and early wall-based sculptures from the ‘80s and ‘90s. The “Alfabeto” series of works were begun in around 1958 while he was still a student in Rome. The first exhibition of these works, was titled “L’alfabeto di Kounellis”, and was held at Galleria La Tartaruga, in Rome. This was followed by two further shows in 1964 and 1966, and a third also in 1966 at Galleria Arco D’Alibert, Rome. The “Alfabeto” series continue to have a deep connection with the later works of Kounellis’ extensive career. They are often included, or at least referenced in his survey exhibitions, but have yet to be shown on such a complete scale. On these early works, the artist executes mathematical symbols, numbers and letters in the form of large lines, painted with a brush and applied by stencil, that create words, or just signs. In opposition to the language of subjective gesture “In the style of Pollock”, he orients himself towards a form of popular expression that is common and impersonal, using symbols derived very often from daily life, such as road or shop signs. He conceives symbols as autonomous entities through their de-contextualisation and unaccustomed positioning allowing them to float and mix up on a vast background of light tones of various nuances ranging from beige to pastel, that at times suggest landscapes.  With these works, Kounellis moved his painting away from abstract formalism and towards a more conceptual discourse. Moreover, like other works from the period, they register a transformation occurring in Italy during the time, with the influence of American culture and specifically a culture of consumption. Following this series, the artist began to introduce found objects into his works, including actual street signs, creating a convergence of painting, sculpture and performance. In two ink works on paper from the collection of Ileana Sonnabend and the estate of Nina Castelli, both entitled “Untitled” (1980), a crowd of faces appears like a detail of some greater scene, as if this bulging crowd is limited only by the edges of the paper itself. Several wall based sculptures in the exhibition, which date from the late ‘80s and ‘90s, feature Kounellis’ signature combination of elements exploring tensions between two and three dimensionality; expansion and containment. In “Untitled” (1990), a jute sack, several lumps of coal and a lithograph print are contained like a flat picture within an aluminium case. In “Untitled” (1996), a vertical steel column holds colourful cloth-rags that spill out of its regular divisions and in “Untitled” (1986), organic wax shapes on the surface of an undulating burlap sack have been adhered to steel panels.

Info: Organizer: Mathieu Paris, White Cube Gallery, 25 – 26 Mason’s Yard, London, Duration: 23/9-29/10/16, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, http://whitecube.com

Jannis Kounellis, Senza titolo, 1961, © the artist, Photo: © White Cube (Ben Westoby)
Jannis Kounellis, Senza titolo, 1961, © the artist, Photo: © White Cube (Ben Westoby)

 

 

Jannis Kounellis, Senza titolo, 1961, © the artist, Photo © White Cube (George Darrell)
Jannis Kounellis, Senza titolo, 1961, © the artist, Photo: © White Cube (George Darrell)