Jannis Kounellis

Biography

Jannis Kounellis was born in Piraeus, Greece, in 1936. He moved to Rome at the age of twenty, where he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts and lived until his death in 2017. Afterwards, he began his artistic exploration in painting, using graphic marks and symbols inspired by the urban landscape, which gradually evolved into letters, numbers and signs.

In 1967, he exhibited at the Galleria La Bertesca in Genoa in the exhibition Im Spazio, curated by Germano Celant, alongside artists who would go on to define Arte Povera. From this period onwards, his work moved beyond traditional painting. He began incorporating natural elements, exploring installation and synaesthesia, and engaging in profound reflections on the concept of history.

Selected Exhibitions & Retrospectives

Tate Modern, London (2023); Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis (2022); Fondazione Prada, Venice (2019); Herning Museum of Contemporary Art, Denmark (2017); Musée d’Orsay, Paris (2007); Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin (2007); Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein (2006); National Museum of Contemporary Art, Athens (2004); Stedelijk Museum voor Aktuele Kunst, Ghent (2002); National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome (2002); Kunstmuseum Winterthur (2001); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid (1997); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (1990); Institute of Contemporary Art, Nagoya (1987); Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1986); CAPC Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux (1985); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1982). Kounellis has exhibited repeatedly at the Venice Biennale and took part in Documenta 5 (1972), 7 (1982) and 14 (2011).