Not Vital, Painting Studio (DI), 2023, Photo etching and aquatinta

In the context of the exhibition "From Object to Ornament" we are happy to announce a new podcast with Not Vital. The artist, who lives between Rio de Janeiro, Beijing and the Engadine, received the director of Edition VFO David Khalat at his home in Sent. In the conversation Not Vital talks about his relation to printmaking, about his encounters with Mark Baron, Elise Boisanté and Piero Crommelynck, and about the relationship between three-dimensional objects and drawings.

As evoked by the title of his very first graphic portfolio "Notes" (1986), "taking notes" runs like a thread through Not Vital's printmaking. The artist is often concerned with capturing something or translating it from the monumental and three-dimensional to the small-format and two-dimensional space.

What drives him in his collaborations with printmakers and artisans is first and foremost curiosity. In doing so, Vital strives to think up special challenges so that it is just as exciting for his counterparts. How, for example, can snow be transformed into a print or Murano glass?

Not Vital examining the proofs at his home in Sent with art historian Thomas Kellein.

For the 75th anniversary of Edition VFO, Not Vital conceived two new portfolios under the title "DI & NOT". The now fifth joint project consists of ten filigree photo etchings each with elevations from his Scarch projects. 'Scarch' are site-specific, monumental artworks that fuse sculpture and architecture, and were mostly conceived for the contemplation of natural phenomena.

Not Vital, House to Watch the 3 Volcanoes, 2017, Flores Indonesia. Photo: Eric Gregory Powell.