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Jannis Kounellis

JANNIS KOUNELLIS

Les manteaux Galerie Lelong 24 January–9 March 2019 13 Rue de Téhéran, Paris
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Press Release

Despite the apparently brutality of his work at first glance, Kounellis (1936–2017) has always placed the human being at the heart of his work: by the proportions chosen (the size of a double bed, or of a sheet of paper), and by the frequent use of items of clothing (hat, coat, shoes, socks, etc.) as well as by the ‘moral’ dimension that has infused his work since the outset.

In 2014, three years before he died, Kounellis produced in the Albicocco de Udine workshop in Italy a spectacular series of twelve large etchings (220 x 120 cm) with a very limited production run of just 12 copies. Portraying the imprints of coats on large metal plates, these impressive etchings are evocative of the powerful sets he designed for theatre and the opera. What can be described as a sort of vast shroud now takes on a premonitory dimension. Never before exhibited outside of Italy, we are presenting them along with three unique works composed with coats, or their imprints, arranged on the sheets of metal that were the ‘canvases’ of the artist, who always considered himself a painter.

A major retrospective of Kounellis, organised by Germano Celant, who coined the term of Arte Povera, will open at the Prada Foundation in May 2019 in Venice, during the Biennale.

Galerie Lelong & Co. is publishing a special volume of the lengthy interview between Jérôme Sans and Jannis Kounellis in 2011 that has never been published in France.

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About the Artist

Jannis Kounellis was born in 1936 in Piraeus, Greece and died on 16 February 2017 in Roma.

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About the Gallery
Galerie Lelong is located in Paris and New York. It was founded by Jacques Dupin, Daniel Lelong and Jean Frémon.

The Paris gallery has been exhibiting recent works from artists of international standing since 1981. The 1980s were notable for artists who went on to become household names, including Joan Miró, Antoni Tàpies, Francis Bacon, Louise Bourgeois, Eduardo Chillida, Paul Rebeyrolle, Pierre Alechinsky, but also for the next generation of artists: Konrad Klapheck, Jan Dibbets, Donald Judd, Robert Ryman, Richard Serra, Jannis Kounellis, Arnulf Rainer, Nicola De Maria and Jan Voss.

In the 1990s, the gallery hosted artists who represented major movements in contemporary art: Sean Scully, Günther Förg, Andy Goldsworthy, Ernest Pignon-Ernest, Antonio Saura. The gallery also increased international recognition of the work of Ana Mendieta.

Since the turn of the century, Galerie Lelong has accentuated the geographical and expressive diversity of its artists: from sculpture and objects by Jaume Plensa, David Nash, Wolfgang Laib, Kiki Smith, Rebecca Horn, Barry Flanagan to installations by Barthélémy Toguo and Lin Tianmiao, without forgetting painting, namely David Hockney, Robert Motherwell, Kate Shepherd, Nalini Malani, Nancy Spero, Juan Uslé, Leon Kossoff.

Galerie Lelong has a large publishing department which produces and distributes engravings, lithographs, digital prints and multiple objects, and collates these works in catalogues raisonnés.

It produces monumental sculptures to order for public spaces and private clients.

The gallery is present at the leading international contemporary art fairs (Art Basel, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Basel Hong Kong, Fiac Paris, Frieze London, Frieze New York, Arco Madrid, Art Brussels, Expo Chicago...).

The directors of the gallery are Jean Frémon, Daniel Lelong and Patrice Cotensin in Paris and Mary Sabbatino in New York.
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Address
13 rue de Téhéran
Paris
France
Opening Hours
Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
Sat, 2pm - 6.30pm
(1)
Paris 13 rue de Téhéran
Galerie Lelong contemporary art gallery in 13 Rue de Teheran Paris France
Galerie Lelong
13 rue de Téhéran, Paris, France
+33 145 631 319
http://www.galerie-lelong.com

Opening hours
Tues - Fri, 10.30am - 6pm
Sat, 2pm - 6.30pm
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