Art & Exhibitions
Gallery Hopping: Not Vital Takes Over Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin
The Swiss artist has large-scale works on view in the suburbs of Paris.
Amah-Rose Abrams
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Thaddaeus Ropac’s gallery based in Pantin, on the outskirts of Paris, is currently host to work by land artist and sculptor Not Vital. Its warehouse space and garden provides an ideal setting for the Swiss artist’s beaten metal sculptures and conceptual installations.
There is something magical about the surfaces of the stainless steel, floral sculptures that comprise 100 Flowers Bloom (2008), as they reflect the sky and foliage around them, as well as each other, in this massive installation of 100 flowers.
Vital’s work manages to embrace elements of nature, be they light, landscape, or simply the idea of a view, while maintaining the idea of each of his works. In Pelvis (2008), the shape of the huge human pelvis seems at once recognizable and a winged alien shape, as it appears to hover above the ground.
There is a maquette of the 2015 work House to Watch the Sunset From on view, a miniature of the full-sized work, which is installed with a fittingly stunning vista at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark. It sheds light on the process of an artist whose land art often works seamlessly with nature.
Vital’s work can often meld into its surroundings; “POLES” is a nice chance to see it take center stage.
Not Vital “POLES” is on view at Thaddaeus Ropac Pantin until March 18.
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