NOT VITAL

Provenance:
- Galerie Claudia Knapp, Chur.
- Acquired from the above in 1980s by the present owner, since then privately owned Switzerland.

Not Vial was born in 1948 in Sent, Lower Engadine, and came into contact with art early on through the art historian Max Huggler. He studied in Paris and Rome and lived in New York in the 1970s, where he met artists including Willem de Kooning, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Andy Warhol. Today he works around the world, including Rio de Janeiro, Beijing, where Ai Wewei is in the neighbouring studio, and Sent. His countless journeys and the experiences and impressions of other cultures strongly influence his work. He himself says: “I am a nomad, the world is my studio”.

Vital’s oeuvre is unbelievably versatile, and extends from drawing and painting, to sculpture and architecture. Many of his works are produced from materials such as bronze, marble or glass. At the same time he is also shaped by his home origins, the Engadine. Here in 1998 the artist bought a park, “Parkin Not dal Mot”, in which he could place and present his sculptures and installations within a natural setting. Also, with the foundation “fundaziun Not Vital” set up in 2003, he has campaigned for the preservation of the culture of the Engadine, and has endeavoured to bring many books and other cultural assets of the Romansh region back to their place of origin.