Jannis Kounellis's Dodecaphonia in a Deconsecrated Roman Church

Jannis Kounellis (Athens, 1936) presents Dodecafonia at Gavin Brown's Enterprise in the deconsecrated church of Sant'Andrea de Scaphis in Rome, running until November 30, 2016. The exhibition coincides with a concurrent show curated by Ludovico Pratesi at the Centro Arti Visive Pescheria in Pesaro, which has been renovated into a dodecagonal space. The title references the twelve-tone scale, symbolizing a unifying harmony and a sacred initiatory trial. Kounellis's new works fuse industrial and classical archaeology materials—wood, coal, jute, metal, and surprisingly white plaster—arranged with solemnity. A heavy ladder leaning against the apse suggests an ascension that is far from ethereal.