Jannis Kounellis, born in 1936 in Greece and settled since 1956 in Rome, is a major artist of the contemporary artistic scene and an emblematic figure of the Arte Povera, italian movement born at the beginning of the 1960s, with Mario Merz, Giuseppe Penone, Giovanni Anselmo, Pistoletto or Pascali.
With the exhibition Arte Povera - Im Spazio in 1967 in Genova, Kounellis developed in his works the use of industrial and simple materials (iron, cotton, coal, wood, coffee, fire, living animals), used for their relationship with the work universe or for their cultural or physical oppositions.
Kounellis' installations become true mise-en-scene, occupying entirely the exhibition space and surrounding the spectator, who become an actor of the event.
During the 1970s and the 1980s, Kounellis' work is more and more presented. At that time, his work becomes darker and dramatic.