Myth is important in Kounellis’ work, as is the theater: he has worked as a set designer and the large retrospective show commemorating his forty years of artistic activity, held in Rome in 2002, was entitled “Atto Unico” (one-act play).Greek-born Kounellis has lived in Italy since 1956. In his second illy collection, he resumes the culture of his homeland. The cups feature four heroines in Greek tragedy: Antigone, Phaedra, Persephone and Electra. There is nothing heroic about them, however: on the contrary, they are represented as broken dolls, with severed heads and limbs. Blotches of black ink ooze like blood onto the saucers.
