About the Item

18 Kt yellow gold lip ring, also available in black rhodium. 2.1 x 6 cm edition of 12 signed and numbered Designed for the middle finger When Elisabetta Cipriani Gallery proposed the jewellery collaboration project to the noted artist Jannis Kounellis, he liked the idea of recreating his 1972 gold sculpture, which was stolen in the 1980. However this time with an entirely different purpose, as wearable sculpture – a ring. The Labbra (Lips) ring, a cast of Kounellis’s lips, is reminiscent of the purpose of the ancient Greek masks. Jannis Kounellis (Greek, Rome-based, b.1936) is one of the world’s leading contemporary artists with a career spanning more than forty years. Kounellis’s work developed as a spectacular mixture of painting, collages and the staging of installations, ‘environments’, performances and theatrical shows, designed to express the tensions and alienation of contemporary society, and the multiplicity, obscurity and fragmentation of its language. He is a prominent member of Arte Povera, and his work was characterised by the juxtaposition of objects, materials and actions that were both physically and culturally antithetical to one another. Although starting as a painter, in the 1960s Kounellis introduced the use of everyday materials to his work – such as wool, coal, iron, stones, earth, wood and objects trouvés – as well as animals to create sculptures and installations. Since 1969 Kounellis has exhibited internationally and his work is part of various major public collections such as the Tate Modern, London; The Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Museum of Modern Art and the Guggenheim, New York. Kounellis has participated in many international exhibitions, including the Biennale of Paris (1967, 1969), the Venice Biennale (1972, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1993, 2015), the Istanbul Biennial (1993), and the Biennale of Sydney (2008).

Metal:
18k Gold
Style:
Contemporary
Place of Origin:
Italy
Period:
21st Century
Date of Manufacture:
2012
Condition:
The ring is new and comes with certificate of authenticity signed by the artist. For custom size rings please allow 3 to 4 weeks.
Seller Location:
London, GB
Reference Number:
1stDibs: LU3332982252

Labbra, ring by Jannis Kounellis, 2012 - limited edition - Artist Jewellery

About the Item

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