Jannis Kounellis: Re-evaluating the 'Painter' of Arte Povera

Jannis Kounellis: I am a Painter

A forthcoming exhibition at the Collezione Giancarlo e Danna Olgiati in Switzerland is poised to re-examine the legacy of Jannis Kounellis, one of the most influential figures of post-war European art. Titled Io sono un pittore ("I am a painter"), the project, curated by Vincenzo de Bellis, takes the artist's own frequent declaration as its guiding principle. It proposes a critical departure from the conventional understanding of Kounellis (1936–2017) as primarily a master of installation or a leading proponent of Arte Povera. Instead, it argues for painting as the fundamental interpretative key to his entire body of work.

This perspective challenges the art world to look beyond the artist's most famous gestures—such as his 1969 exhibition of twelve live horses in a Roman gallery—and reconsider the conceptual underpinnings of his practice. For Kounellis, the statement "I am a painter" was not a reference to technique or medium. As he articulated, painting was about the "construction of images," a foundational act that did not depend on canvas and pigment. The exhibition aims to present a more radical and comprehensive view, tracing this painterly sensibility through his decades-long career.

Born in Piraeus, Greece, Kounellis's early life was marked by the Second World War and the subsequent Greek Civil War. He relocated to Rome in 1956 to enroll in the Accademia di Belle Arti, where he studied under the artist Toti Scialoja. In this formative period, he exhibited alongside other Rome-based painters, including Cy Twombly and Mario Schifano. This early immersion in a painterly context is crucial to understanding his later, more radical work. Even as he began incorporating industrial and organic materials like steel, coal, fire, and wool, his approach remained rooted in a desire to construct powerful, resonant images that engaged with space, weight, and history in a way that extended, rather than rejected, the core principles of painting.

By 1960, Kounellis was an active participant in what would become known as the Arte Povera movement. Yet, as the upcoming exhibition suggests, this label, while accurate, can be limiting. The Olgiati Collection's project seeks to demonstrate that Kounellis's engagement with "poor" materials was an extension of his painterly exploration. His arrangements of raw elements were not merely sculptural; they were compositions that used real-world textures, tensions, and sensations to create a new kind of pictorial drama.

For professionals in the art and antiques market, this scholarly reframing holds significant implications. A major monographic exhibition that convincingly repositions an artist of Kounellis's stature can influence both academic discourse and market perceptions. By emphasizing the conceptual continuity from his early works on canvas to his large-scale installations, Io sono un pittore may encourage a deeper appreciation for the full spectrum of his output.

This curated perspective provides a new intellectual framework for collectors and institutions, potentially elevating the status of works that bridge his different creative periods. It reinforces the idea that whether using paint, fire, or burlap sacks, Kounellis was consistently engaged in a singular, powerful project: to expand the very definition of what a painting could be in the modern world. The exhibition promises not just a retrospective, but a fundamental reassessment of an artist who, even when working far from the canvas, never ceased to identify as a painter.