Jannis Kounellis: Lightning Striking over Mexico

The show is composed of new pieces produced specifically for this space: 6,000 square meters of the two main galleries within the museum, a former railroad service workshop and now part of MECA (Macro Espacio para la Cultura y las Artes), an integral cultural project. Relámpagos sobre México will be Kounellis’ first solo show in Mexico in over two decades and will have an extension at Hilario Galguera Gallery in Mexico City, opening on February 2nd, during Zona MACO Art Fair.

The thread that connects the show’s monumental pieces, are the subjects that are usually present in Jannis Kounellis’ discourse: the constant search for justice, freedom and beauty from a humanistic perspective. These ideas are present throughout his work through materials with symbolic and poetic references such as metal plates and beams, coal, clothing, coffee, etc. In this case, Kounellis has taken the remains of objects and furniture found at the vestiges of the industrial workspace that existed before the museum almost as an archeological gesture.

With this poetic action, Kounellis has recovered the railroad workers’ historical memory and their political and social position, providing them with a new dignity through this resurrection process. The historical, political and social content these elements contain, in addition to Kounellis’ theatrical presentation, illustrate his search for the recovery of the mythology of the form and the execution of the drama.