(Piraeus 1936–2017 Rome)
Untitled, 2000, iron, volcanic stone, burlap sacks, coffee pot, books on metal sheet, 100 x 70 x 27 cm

This work is accompanied by a photo certificate signed by the artist.

This work is registered in the Archivio Kounellis, Rome and is accompanied by a photo certificate of authenticity

Provenance:
European Private Collection (acquired directly from the artist)

Exhibited:
Naples, Vesuvio in fiamme, Vesuvio a colori, Museo Diego Aragona Pignatelli Cortes, 21 October – 19 November 2006
Rome, Complesso Monumentale del Vittoriano,
12 January – 11 February 2007, exh. cat. p. 171 with ill.
Kiev, La Via della Seta. Arte e Artisti contemporanei dall’Italia,
Kyiv History Museum, 31 July – 25 August 2021
Ankara, CerModern Arts Center, 19 September – 10 October 2021 Tbslisi, Tblisi History Museum, 29 October – 22 November 2021 Tashkent Gallery NBU, Uzbekistan, 16 December 2021 – 5 February 2022
Beijing, Inside-Out Art Museum, 2 March – 15 April 2023, Chongqing, Art Museum of Sichuan Fine Arts Institute, 29 April – 26 May 2023
Xi’an, Xi’an Art Museum, 4 June – 9 July 2023

While for Paolini the prerequisites of vision can be measured in terms of drawing and geometry, for Kounellis the “poor” materials of life and work become the substance of his compositions. Kounellis called himself a “painter” and used fire, iron, steel, coal and sacks to create his icons of dramatic symbolism.
In Untitled, a sheet of steel is the backdrop for folded sacks, a piece of lava from Vesuvius (the painting was conceived for Naples) and an everyday emblem of Italian life: the coffee maker, the focus of a tautological, concrete adherence to reality

Angela Tecce (ed), Necessary Beauty, Critical text of the exhibition “La via della seta. Arte e artisti contemporanei dall’Italia”