Sculpture, Not Vital

Not Vital is one of the leading international sculptors of his generation. The Engadine artist lives and works alternately in Niger, Patagonia, Beijing, Lucca and Sent.

The "3 Lotus", made especially for Chur, originated from the work "Let 100 flowers bloom", which Vital created in Beijing. The large-scale installation comprises a hundred steel flowers lying on the ground and alludes to the Hundred Flowers Movement initiated by Mao Zedong, with which the Communist Party called on the people to express critical views on the state of the state in 1956. When the state leadership suddenly threatened to lose control, the movement was finally suppressed by force. Not Vital finds strong and coherent metaphors for this historical event. This applies both to the specific time- and place-related aspects of the theme and to its general level of power, abuse of power, and suppression. Thus, the open lotus as an eastern symbol stands for spiritual freedom and development, its closed form accordingly for the opposite.

Incidentally, the three-part work was financed with the proceeds of the auction of attractive car numbers held by the city in 2006. The city council decided at the time that these proceeds should go to art in public spaces.



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