For as long as sculptures have decorated buildings, sculptors have tailored their creations to their sites. The ancient world is littered with examples, such as the reliefs that rise up the interior walls of the monumental stairway of the Pergamon Altar, from around 170 BCE. Depicting a battle between the gods and giants, the figures spill into our space, with knees and other body parts deliberately carved so that they appear to rest on the same stairs we climb. We are immersed in the action—all part of the ritual of approaching the altar.
“Jannis Kounellis in Six Acts,” the first retrospective of the Greek artist’s work in North America since 1986, opened this past month at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. On the occasion of this rare survey, Artforum contributing editor David Rimanelli zeroes in on the Arte Povera giant’s career-spanning “blocked door” series, reflecting on the seemingly contradictory qualities that propel and complicate the artist’s oeuvre.THE LAMEST JOKE about Arte Povera is calling it ricca. I searched my memory and the internet for some hidebound-but-amusingly-so British art critic who made the crack
When the Farnese family lost favor with the papacy, the former castle was reimagined as a garden villa retreat, just far enough from Rome to offer some peace.