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Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne: Not Vital "NOT WHY" - 14 Nov 2009 to 16 Jan 2010 Current Exhibition |
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Not Vital, "Unpleasant Object" 2008,
painted stainless steel, edition of 3, 315 x 145 x 143 cm Courtesy Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne |
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Not Vital NOT WHY November 14, 2009 - January 16, 2010 Opening: Saturday, November 14, 2009, 16.00 - 19.00 Opening hours: (Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing) Tuesday to Sunday 11.00 - 18.30 January 1 - January 3, 2010 Gallery is closed Not Vital "NOT WHY" Swiss artist Not Vital (*1948) leads a quasi-nomadic life between his residences in Agadez (Niger), Notona (Patagonia/Chile), New York (USA) and his original hometown, the Lower Engadin village of Sent (Switzerland). For two years now, Vital has also had a studio in Beijing - "for the first time after more than ten years, (I have) a sculpting studio again", he says. The works he has created there, some of them very large in scale, are now being presented in the comprehensive exhibition "NOT WHY" at Galerie Urs Meile in Beijing. At the center of Not Vital's work is the exploration of the spatial, economic and cultural contexts of his various places of residence and activity. This has developed since the early 1970's and even then articulated a very modern equilibrium of regional and international approaches. Analogous to the attraction that New York held for artists at that time - luring Vital to SoHo as well - the artist remarks that he is "fascinated by the Chinese passion for art" at present. Beijing's exciting production possibilities, good spatial conditions, vibrant art scene, and intriguing social melting pot - all of these factors have inspired this Swiss artist enormously. The artist's new environment is clearly reflected in his recent works, characterized - as always with Not Vital - by the highest conceptual stringency, fine irony and a sound knowledge of the local cultures and narrative traditions. "Beijing Duck in Gold" is the title of a sculpture that is formally an emulation of the famous delicacy, but comes with a golden surface and thus alludes to the economic upheavals of China's turbo capitalism. Ecological problems are addressed by "(Mongolian) Cow Dung", a bronze sculptural reference to this still very popular natural fuel. And when Not Vital has the famous wart on Mao Zedong's chin carved out of coal (title: "Zhi"), transforming it into an outsized sculpture, he is suggesting that the long shadow of the Great Leader and Chairman is still quite present. Vital sees his art making not only as an activity that reflects upon society, but also as a concrete set of instructions for the immediate reality. His adobe buildings in Niger, such as the elementary school that he designed practically as a "social sculpture", speak to the artist's pronounced accountability regarding questions of social impact. The exhibition in Beijing presents more models for planned buildings. Among other projects, Not Vital shows an amorphous piece bearing the title "Model for a Station in Ouagadougou, West Africa", a prototype of a bus stop with natural air conditioning for this hot, poor city in West Africa. By taking this African question all the way to China, says Vital, he is in fact practising true artistic globalization. Not Vital "NOT WHY" Der Schweizer K�nstler Not Vital (*1948) f�hrt quasi eine nomadische Existenz zwischen seinen Wohnsitzen in Agadez (Niger), Notona (Patagonia/Chile), New York (USA) und dem Unterengadiner Dorf Sent, aus dem er urspr�nglich stammt. Seit zwei Jahren besitzt Vital nun auch ein Atelier in Peking ? "seit mehr als 10 Jahren erstmals wieder ein Bildhauer-Atelier", wie er sagt. Die teilweise sehr grossformatigen Werke, die dort entstanden sind, werden nun in der umfangreichen Ausstellung "NOT WHY" in der Pekinger Galerie Urs Meile gezeigt. Die Auseinandersetzung mit den r�umlichen, wirtschaftlichen und kulturellen Kontexten seiner jeweiligen Wohn- und Arbeitsorte steht im Zentrum von Not Vitals Werk, das sich seit den fr�hen 1970er Jahren entwickelt und bereits damals eine wegweisende Balance von regionalen und internationalen Fragestellungen formuliert hat. Analog zu der Attraktion, die damals New York f�r K�nstler verstr�mte und die Vital nach SoHo lockte, ist er von der aktuellen "chinesischen Passion f�r die Kunst fasziniert" (Vital). Spannende Produktionsm�glichkeiten, gute R�ume, das vibrierende K�nstlermilieu und der spannungsgeladene gesellschaftliche Melting Pot haben den B�ndner begeistert. Die neue Umgebung bildet sich deutlich in den Werken ab, die wie immer bei Not Vital von konzeptioneller Stringenz, von feiner Ironie und von grosser Kenntnis der lokalen Kulturen und Erz�hltraditionen gleichermassen zeugen. "Beijing Duck in Gold" nennt sich eine Skulptur, die formal der ber�hmten Delikatesse nachgebildet ist, aber mit einer goldenen Oberfl�che daherkommt und damit auf die wirtschaftlichen Verwerfungen des chinesischen Turbokapitalismus verweist. �kologische Fragen er�rtert "Mongolian Cow Dung", eine skulpturale Nachbildung des noch immer sehr verbreiteten Brennstoffs aus Bronze. Und wenn Not Vital die Warze von Mao Tse Tung aus Kohle schnitzen l�sst (Titel: "Zhi"), und sie zur �berdimensionalen Skulptur transformiert, dann verweist er damit auf den noch immer existierenden langen Schatten des Grossen F�hrers. Doch Vital versteht seine skulpturale T�tigkeit nicht nur als gesellschaftsreflexives Tun, sondern als Handlungsanweisung f�r unmittelbare Wirklichkeit. Seine Lehmbauten in Niger, insbesondere seine Volksschule, die er quasi als "soziale Plastik" entwickelt hatte, zeugen von dieser ausgepr�gten k�nstlerischen Verantwortung f�r gesellschaftliche Fragestellungen. In der Pekinger Ausstellung sind neue Modelle f�r geplante Bauten zu sehen. Unter anderem zeigt Not Vital eine amorphe Skulptur, die den Titel "Model for a Station in Ouagadougou, West Africa" tr�gt, ein Modell f�r eine nat�rlich klimatisierte Busstation im heissen und armen Westafrika. Indem er diese afrikanische Fragestellung nach China bringe, so Vital, praktiziere er eine eigentliche k�nstlerische Globalisierung. Text: Christoph Doswald Translation: Werner Richter Not Vital 1948 born in Sent, Engadine, Switzerland He currently lives and works in Sent, New York, and Agadez (Niger) Selected Solo Exhibitions 2008 "10 Austrians + more", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria "Let One Hundred Flowers Bloom", Currents � Art and Music, Beijing, China "Tongue", Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne, Beijing, China 2007 "Punts", Galerie Luciano Fasciati, Chur, Switzerland "Lotus, Coffee and Stone Pine, Portraits, Snow and Boyfriend", Sperone Westwater, New York, USA 2006 The Arts Club of Chicago, Chicago, USA Galerie Guy B�rtschi, Geneva, Switzerland 2005 "New Sculpture", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France "Agadez", Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany "Agadez" Albion, London, UK "New Sculpture", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria 2004 Sperone Westwater, New York, USA "Milla larmas id 1 chamel", Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany "300 Camels", Central House of Artists, Moscow, Russia 2003 Chasa Jaura, Valchava, Switzerland Galerie Tschudi, Zuoz, Switzerland 2002 "Mias muntognas", Edith Wahlandt Galerie, Stuttgart, Germany "Vital", Galerie Guy B�rtschi, Geneva "Fat es Fat", Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen, Switzerland Kunsthalle G�ppingen, G�ppingen, Germany Museo Cantonale d�Arte, Lugano, Switzerland 2001 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Paris, France Galleria Cardi & Co., Milan, Italy "New Sculpture", de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich, Switzerland 2000 "Meine Schafe", Gallerie Luciano Fasciati, Chur, Switzerland Galeri Nils Staerk, Copenhagen, Denmark 1999 "Snowballs", Baron/Boisant�, New York, USA Sperone Westwater, New York, USA 1998 "Skulpturer Och Teckningar", Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, Sweden "Nototo", Milleventi, Milan, Italy 1997 "New Sculpture", Sperone Westwater, New York, Italy "Large Works on Paper", Baron/Boisant�, New York, USA "Totem und Tabu", Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Germany Malm� Konsthall, Malm�, Sweden 1996 "Schoppa", Luciano Fasciati, Chur, Switzerland 1995 Galerie Lehmann, Lausanne, Switzerland "Sculpture", Sperone Westwater, New York, USA Galleria Milleventi, Turin, Italy Galleria Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, Italy "Private View", Berggruen & Zevi Limited, London, UK 1993 Gallerie Lehmann, Lausanne, Switzerland "Cow Dung, New Bronze Works", Wooster Gardens, New York, USA "Adam, One Afternoon", Baron/Boisant�, New York, USA "disegns/squitschs in lain, Zeichnungen/Holzschnitte" Galleria d'Art Center Augustin, Scuol, Switzerland Gallerie Niels Ewerbeck, Vienna, Austria Mendelson Gallery, Pittsburgh, USA "Curtis Anderson, Not Vital", Baron/Boisant�, New York, USA "Skulpturen, Zeichnungen, Druckgraphik", Galerie Edith Wahlandt, Stuttgart, Germany Berggruen & Zevi Limited, London, UK Kunsthalle Basel, Basel, Switzerland 1992 "sculture recenti", Studio Guenzani, Milan, Italy "Cacche di Mucca", Galleria Via Farini, Milan, Italy "18 Buatschas", Kunsthandlung Luciano Fasciati, Chur, Switzerland "Bronzen", Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria 1991 Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, Salzburg, Austria "The Complete Prints and Multiples", Baron/Boisant�, New York, USA "Druck-Graphik & Multiples", B�ndner Kunstmuseum Chur, Switzerland 1990 Baron/Boisant�, New York, USA PS Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Curt Marcus Gallery, New York, USA Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg, Germany Muse� Rath, Geneva, Switzerland 1989 "Not Vital at Akhnaton", Centre of Arts, Akhnaton Hall, Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt "Sculptures And Works on Paper", The Greenberg Gallery Annex, St. Louis, USA "Not Vital, Dessins et Sculptures", Centre Culturel Suisse, Paris, France Galerie Montenay, Paris, France 1988 "Bilder und Skulpturen", Binz 39, Scuol, Switzerland "Plastiken und Zeichnungen", Kunstmuseum Luzern, Lucerne, Switzerland Curt Marcus Gallery, New York, USA Galerie Ascan Crone, Hamburg, Germany Baron/Boisant�, New York, USA "Works on Paper", Swiss Institute, New York, USA 1987 "Skulpturen", Galerie Rudolf Zwirner, Cologne, Germany Gallery Nature Morte, Forum Art Fair, Zurich, Switzerland 1986 "Sculpture + Drawings", Margo Leavin Gallery, Los Angeles, USA Gallery Nature Morte, New York, USA Galleria Pinta, Genova, Italy 1985 "Drawings and Sculpture", Willard Gallery, New York, USA "Sculpturen en Tekeningen", Galerie Barbara Farber, Amsterdam, Netherlands 1984 "Not Vital at Nature Morte", Nature Morte, New York, USA "Recent Sculptures and Drawings", Mendelson Gallery, Pittsburgh, USA "Plastiken und Zeichnungen", Galerie Hartmann, St. Gallen, Switzerland 1983 Mendelson Gallery, Pittsburgh, USA 1982 Kunsthaus Glarus, Glarus, Switzerland Gimpel-Hanover and Andr� Emmerich Galerien, Zurich, Switzerland 1981 Altstadt-Galerie, Chur, Switzerland "Recent Drawings", Albert White Gallery, Toronto, Canada 1980 Gimpel-Hanover and Andr� Emmerich Galerien, Zurich Mendelson Gallery, Pittsburgh, USA 1979 B�ndner Kunstmuseum, Chur, Switzerland 1976 Galerie Peter Noser, Zurich, Switzerland 1974 Dritte Galerie, Zofingen, Switzerland 1973 Galleria LP 220, Turin, Italy 1972 Galleria Diagramma, Milan, Italy 1971 Galerie d'art moderne, Chur, Switzerland |
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