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If you happen to be able to visit the Stolen Treasures show at Shanghart at Caochangdi art district, there are also about 3 other shows opening in the art district on the same night. I’m not sure what the other shows are but this one looks interesting at Urs Meile gallery (and don’t forget Ullens opening the following day):

Opening: Saturday, 14 November 2009 — 4 PM to 7 PM
Exhibition in Beijing: November 14, 2009 – January 16, 2010
Opening Hours: 11.00 am – 6.30 pm, from Tuesday to Sunday
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.
Text: Christoph Doswald
Translation: Werner Richter