Jannis Kounellis

This work belongs to the Alfabeti series, which began shortly after Jannis Kounellis developed works inspired by urban signage. Influenced by his experiences in Rome's everyday life, these combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols represented the personal language of the artist. Using various types of paper, Kounellis applies these symbols with stencils and eliminates the traces of the "artist's hand”.

Among his many explorations of language and material, one remarkable group emerged from this series: the Carte Azzurre (Light Blue Papers), created on light blue tissue paper. The choice of tissue paper is not arbitrary; its translucency and airy quality create a striking contrast with the bold black marks that define his visual language introducing a new layer of finesse and ephemerality to his practice. Another crucial feature of these works is their size: 70 x 100 cm, the standard format for Italian drawing paper. This dimension is not incidental but reflects Kounellis’ deep understanding of materiality and format, becoming iconic within his practice.

These works encapsulate the Artist’s mastery of contrast, unique and distinct within his oeuvre; not just between black and blue, but between solidity and vulnerability, assertion and silence. They remind us that his exploration of language was never just about the mark itself, but about the tension between the mark and the world it inhabits, “a whisper rather than a declaration, yet one that resonates with equal intensity”.