This spring, Milan’s cultural rhythm softens into something more contemplative as 10 Corso Como unveils a powerful tribute to Jannis Kounellis. Within the gallery’s newly reimagined interiors, the legacy of the Arte Povera master unfolds through a single, arresting gesture—one that transforms the space into a theater of memory, restraint, and human presence.
At the heart of the exhibition lies a large-scale installation created in 2009, composed of seventy black coats arranged in a dense, immersive formation. Suspended in quiet succession, the garments form a visual cadence that feels both intimate and monumental. Their repetition creates a field of presence without bodies, suggesting lives once lived, journeys once taken, and stories that linger in silence.
Jannis Kounellis portrait – Courtesy Galleria Fumagalli
Kounellis, born in Piraeus and shaped by his artistic life in Rome, built a practice grounded in material truth and emotional depth. His work consistently moved beyond traditional painting, embracing iron, coal, fabric, and found objects to evoke the complexities of existence. Even as his methods evolved, he maintained the sensibility of a painter—one who draws life itself, translating experience into form with a deeply human touch.
Inside 10 Corso Como, the installation resonates with heightened clarity. The coats, stripped of individuality yet rich in implication, appear as fragments of identity—markers of presence and absence that hover between past and present. They suggest protection and vulnerability, movement and stillness, belonging and displacement. Each fold and contour becomes a quiet testimony, holding the imprint of an unseen body.
Jannis Kounellis. Untitled – Detail, photo: © Lucrezia Roda – Courtesy Galleria Fumagalli
The gallery space, once industrial, now serves as an essential and almost sacred setting. Its white expanse heightens the austerity of the work, allowing the installation to unfold with a sense of gravity and calm. Visitors move through the space as participants rather than observers, drawn into a suspended moment where reflection replaces distraction.
In a contemporary landscape shaped by conversations around migration, identity, and the human condition, the installation carries renewed emotional weight. The coats evoke transit and transformation, hinting at lives in motion and the fragile boundaries between home and elsewhere. They stand as both individual markers and collective symbols, bridging personal memory with broader cultural narratives.
Jannis Kounellis. Untitled – Detail, photo: © Lucrezia Roda – Courtesy Galleria Fumagalli
The context of 10 Corso Como deepens this dialogue. Long celebrated as a nexus of fashion, art, and design, the space amplifies the significance of clothing as more than adornment. Here, the coat emerges as a cultural artifact—an object that carries history, absorbs time, and reflects the complexity of human experience. It becomes at once garment, relic, and metaphor.
Kounellis’ enduring vision transforms the gallery into a stage where life itself takes form. The installation unfolds like a quiet performance, where absence speaks louder than presence and where material becomes language. There is no need for excess; the work communicates through stillness, inviting viewers to engage with its layered meanings at their own pace.
The exhibition Jannis Kounellis. Untitled is on view at 10 Corso Como Gallery in Milan from May 13 to June 16, 2026. It is curated by Alessio de’ Navasques and presented in collaboration with Galleria Fumagalli. The gallery is open daily from 10:30 AM to 7:30 PM, and admission is free.
