Through this shift in his work, "Kounellis was more interested in anarchical freedom from linguistic norms and conventional materials. In 1967, Kounellis installed "live birds in cages along with rose-shaped, cloth cut-outs pinned to canvas" alongside his painting. Finally, Kounellis was also included in 'RA3 Arte Povera + Azioni povere' which was organized by Marcello Rumma and curated by Celant. In the same year Kounellis exhibited 'Senza titolo (Untitled)', which consisted of raw wool, rope and a wooden structure all leaning against a wall. To solidify the movement, Celant curated yet another group show, 'Arte Povera', which was exhibited at the De' Foscherari gallery in Bologna in 1968 with similar artists. Worked in painting, sculpture and photography and made performances and installations, creating works of large physical presence as well as small-scale gestures. Leading artists were Giovanni Anselmo, Alighiero Boetti, Pier Paolo Calzolari, Luciano Fabro, Piero Gilardi, Jannis Kounellis, Mario Merz, Marisa Merz, Giulio Paolini, Pino Pascali, Giuseppe Penone, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Emilio Prini and Gilberto Zorio. Materials used by the artists included soil, rags and twigs. Kounellis participated in the exhibition 'Arte Povera – e IM Spazio' at the La Bertesca Gallery in Genoa curated by Celant, Arte povera means literally ‘poor art’ but the word poor here refers to the movement’s signature exploration of a wide range of materials beyond the traditional ones of oil paint on canvas, bronze, or carved marble. In 1967, Kounellis became associated with Arte Povera, a movement theorized by curator Germano Celant as a major shift from work on flat surfaces to installations. His work has become integral to numerous renowned, international museums' collections. In 1974, he performed with Edward Kienholz, Wolf Vostell and other artists in Berlin at the ADA – Aktionen der Avantgarde. Kounellis' work from the 1980s, which also consisted of sculptures and performances using unusual materials, traveled all over Europe. He replaced the canvas with bed frames, doorways, windows or simply the gallery itself. From 1963, Kounellis introduced found objects in his artworks, among them live animals but also fire, earth, burlap sacks, and gold. By 1961 he began to paint on newspaper to reflect his feelings towards modern society and politics. This newfound convergence of painting, sculpture, and performance was Kounellis' way out of traditional art. This same year he donned one of his stencil paintings as a garment and created a performance in his studio to demonstrate himself literally becoming one with his painting. In 1960 he began to introduce found sculptural objects such as actual street signs into his work, exhibiting at Galleria La Tartaruga. In some of his first exhibitions, Kounellis began stenciling numbers, letters, and words onto his canvases, often reflecting advertisements and signs seen on the street. From 1960 to 1966, Kounellis went through a period of only exhibiting paintings. He lived in Greece during the Second World War and Greek Civil War before he moved to Rome in 1956. Kounellis was born in Piraeus, Greece in 1936. A key figure associated with Arte Povera, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Rome. Jannis Kounellis (Greek: Γιάννης Κουνέλλης 23 March 1936 – 16 February 2017) was a Greek Italian contemporary artist based in Rome. I have seen this piece identified as being 1969 and I have seen it as 1972. Provenance: The Collection of Ileana Sonnabend (Mrs Leo Castelli) & the Estate of Nina Castelli Sundell Hand signed lower right in pencil: Kounellis
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