Lara Nickel

The horse has been represented in the history of art by almost every culture in everytime period. In 1969, Jannis Kounellis (member of the Italian art movement ArtePovera) brought twelve living horses inside a gallery in Rome, creating a very reinterpreted image of the horse in an art context. Lara NickelÆs homage is comprised oftwelve life-size, realistic paintings of horses, positioned on the ground and installedperpendicularly to the wall. Presented in this non-traditional way, the images of horses appear to be standing in the room, making the architecture itself the setting of thepaintings.

NickelÆs 12 Horses û Homage to Jannis Kounellis uses painting as a sculptural intervention, inviting the audience to physically engage with the artwork. Using KounellisÆ original piece as an art historical reference, NickelÆs paintings are not only portraits of horses but painting-as-illusion, painting-as-object, and painting-as-situation.

Germano Celant, renowned art historian and theoretician, is internationally acknowledged for his theories on Arte Povera. He is also the curator of hundreds of exhibitions in the most prominent international museums and institutions worldwide.

Alex Bacon is an art historian based in New York City who also regularly writes criticism and organizes exhibitions of both contemporary and historical art. He is currently a Curatorial Associate at the Princeton University Art Museum.

José Jiménez is an art critic and curator.