Translating China with Jannis Kounellis
Bejing, Mainland China (2011)
The Translating Art exhibition in China celebrated the visionary work of Kounellis, bringing his radical artistic language to a new audience. As a key figure of Arte Povera, Kounellis redefined contemporary art by incorporating everyday materials like coal, steel, and textiles into his compositions. This exhibition, presented as part of Galleria Marino’s international projects, explored his exploration of space, memory, and industrial aesthetics.
By showcasing Kounellis’ work in China, Translating Art fostered a cross-cultural dialogue, highlighting the universal power of art to transcend boundaries and reinterpret history through new perspectives.
Press review
[...] In Moscow, in an installation marking 20 years since his debut in Russia, he manipulated old Soviet coats and some now-silent musical instruments. In Beijing, in the Tiantongyuan workshop, where workers slept and worked alongside him, he created a world—a personal vision of China. It was a debut. Never before had the People's Republic engaged in such a structured and monographic way with Arte Povera, assures curator Huang Du. And this art, in the land of rich art (speculations included), aspires to be more than just a commercial gimmick.
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"For the first time, a master of Arte Povera is exhibiting here, and that alone is an event. Our artists," summarizes Huang, "who have only known his works through catalogs, will now be able to experience them firsthand. Finally, through Kounellis, they discover how Arte Povera seeks a relationship with space. They see that the rediscovery of local materials is both legitimate and aesthetically significant. [...]
"Kounellis per Ai Weiwei,
le opinioni sono sacre"
In an interview with Il Riformista, Jannis Kounellis commented on the arrest of Ai Weiwei in China, emphasizing that his own exhibition faced no obstacles in the country. He noted that China, despite its political complexities, felt culturally close to the Italy of the 1960s—a period of artistic experimentation and profound transformation. Kounellis saw parallels between the two contexts, recognizing a shared energy of renewal and creative tension that fueled artistic expression beyond institutional constraints.
L'amore per Roma di Jannis, in partenza per Pechino e Parigi
In an interview with Corriere della Sera, Jannis Kounellis reflected on Rome’s shifting role in the global art scene, lamenting that the city was no longer the vibrant epicenter it had been in the 1960s. He recalled a time when Rome was a crucible of artistic innovation, attracting international talents and fostering bold experimentation. Discussing his own practice, Kounellis elaborated on his use of unconventional materials such as iron, coal, jute, and fire, emphasizing how these elements embodied a raw, industrial poetry. He described his art as a dialogue between history and modernity, deeply rooted in memory and space. For Kounellis, his work was not just about form but about experience—an attempt to capture the weight of reality through matter and gesture.
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