Kounellis

Working in Rome since 1956, Greek artist Jannis Kounellis (born 1936) was a seminal contributor to the Arte Povera group. Kounellis began his career as a painter; influenced by Alberto Burri and Lucio Fontana, he explored the boundaries of the medium and by 1963 was using found elements in his practice. Often monumental in scale, the artist's work unites ancient Greek themes with "poor" materials such as iron, wool, gold, jute sacks, coal, fire and even, controversially, live animals. One of his best-known works from the late 1960s incorporated 11 horses installed in the gallery. Published in conjunction with an exhibition in Bari, Italy, this monograph examines some of the artist's recent monumental evocations and explorations of the human figure and other sculptures alongside past works.