Jannis Kounellis's 70 Coats at 10 Corso Como in Milan

Jannis Kounellis's installation "Untitled" (2009) is on view at 10 Corso Como in Milan, curated by Alessio De Navasques. The work features seventy coats hung on meat-hook-like hangers in a rhythmic, animal-like sequence, evoking absence and presence. The installation references Nikolai Gogol's story "The Overcoat" (1842) and its protagonist Akakij Akakievič Bašmačkin, whose coat becomes a symbol of desire and social class. Kounellis's practice, rooted in Arte Povera and theorized by Germano Celant, emphasizes nomadism and interdisciplinary approaches. The coats, reminiscent of Yohji Yamamoto's minimalist black garments, become traces of passage rather than decorative objects. The exhibition highlights Kounellis's shift from individualist perspectives to collective engagement, echoing his 1969 work "Untitled (Dodici cavalli vivi)" at Galleria L'Attico in Rome, where live horses challenged the boundaries between art and life.