Jannis Kounellis
CHEIM & READ
547 West 25th Street
May 2–June 22
View of “Jannis Kounellis,” 2013.
K in this exhibition stands for Kounellis. Like a drop cap, in Untitled (all works 2013), an oversized steel K extends into the gallery space, impressing on the spectator the arrival of something to take note of, something distinctive to be considered in lettered specificity. The works included in this show were made from locally sourced materials—from the steel itself to the coal, chunks of colored glass, and (presumably) the tar that Kounellis has thrown onto sheets of paper in three other untitled works. These are among the most compelling, injecting a refreshing messiness into an otherwise highly poised exhibition.
To the right of the K, glass cups and vases acquired from a collector’s trove in Brooklyn are lined up on shelves to stand as a demonstration of what the artist calls “the human epic:” all the people who have dwelled, lived, and accumulated little possessions in the great city of New York. While photographs of numerous rows of glasses collapse into an illusory similarity, when one views them up close, however, these groupings show remarkable variation, including in some cases colored patinas from past use and surprising changes of shape and scale that can catch the viewer unaware. For example, a German-style stein, which one usually encounters in its large form, is posed here on a steel shelf as a striking miniature.
Since the 1970s, Jannis Kounellis has upped the ante in terms of how he describes his work, alluding to Masaccio and Caravaggio as well as breakthroughs by Kazimir Malevich and Jackson Pollock as important precedents to his practice. One clear connection between Kounellis and such illustrious company is the pursuit of something that initiates a veritable shift in awareness. It’s as if these exhibited works, which demand the viewer’s attention, are a calling card for the immediate reinvestigation of Kounellis’s entire oeuvre.