Jannis Kounellis
La via del sangue, 1973
4103-BK
5 7/8 x 4 3/8 in. (15 x 11 cm)
Seven burnt Italian wood matches, each mounted on the singed page annotated with a day of the week of the event, Monday through Sunday.
Published by Galleria La Salita, Rome.
Kounellis created this book in conjunction with an exhibition titled “Apollo” at the Galleria La Salita in Rome in 1973. During the course of a week, he came to the gallery daily and struck a match and mounted it onto paper, noting the day on the page. The artist often introduces temporal elements—fire, smoke, or ash—into his work. The simple act of striking a match to mark each day of the week suggests a ritualized cultural or religious expression, even one of penitence. In this instance, Kounellis is indirectly invoking Apollo, known as the god of light and the sun. Fine condition in publisher’s printed slipcase. Signed on flyleaf. Edition #199 of 250 copies.
Price Upon Request
Jannis Kounellis
Alfabeto, 1966
11403-BK
5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in. (14 x 14 cm)
Printed in an edition of 1000 copies. Rome. Galleria Arco D'Alibert.
The “Alfabeto” series of works on paper and canvas were begun ca. 1958 while Kounellis was still a student in Rome. Using black tempera, ink, enamel or acrylic paint on a white ground of paper, cardboard or canvas—either singly or combined—they feature black stencilled numbers, letters, mathematical symbols, and arrows. The first exhibition of these works, described later by Kounellis as “a hermetic rhythmic writing in space” was titled L'alfabeto di Kounellis, and was held at Galleria La Tartaruga, the first gallery for contemporary art established in Rome. This was followed by two further shows in 1964 and 1966, and a third also in 1966 at Galleria Arco D’Alibert. It was in conjunction with this final “Alfabeto” show that this small artist’s book was produced. The printed cryptic symbols and letters are suggestive of a language, code or mathematical formula but now resist any particular meaning or representation. Kounellis’ figures are merely compositional signs, somewhere between image, language, and arithmetic.
Reference: Maffei - Arte Povera. books and documents, p. 88.
Price Upon Request
