Kounellis: a Greek bearing anarchist tidings!

  

Travel is a serendipitous experience! You just never know and you never can really plan as the unexpected is what you can expect. Today at the Tate Modern after a double deck bus journey that weaved through the  boroughs and high streets with their ever so distinctive style. We passed the iconic London sites and sights and wound our way across the Thames to alight close to the Tate Modern. 

The disappointment at finding the Turbine Hall in a state of flux was compensated by wandering into an extraordinary exhibition by Jannis Kounellis. 

Kounellis was a Greek performance artist and sculptor that was ‘assocated with the Arte Povera movement. He was born in 1936 in Piraeus and died din 2017 in Rome. He was originally  a painter but moved into installations in 1967 and is celebrated as a member of the Arte Povera movement that was ‘dedicated to attacking the estabilised norms of government, industry and culture’. His work (in green) would on occasions have a ceolist playing a Bach score. 

He replaced the canvas with bed frames, doorways, windows or simply ‘the gallery itself’. He was most ‘interested in anarchical freedom from linguistic norms and conventional materials’. He exhibited in major exhibitions including Documenta and the Venice Biennale. 

This exhibition was truly quirky, questioning and timeless. 

https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/jannis-kounellis