ON JANUARY 1, 2019,

ART BÄRTSCHI & CIE BECOMES WILDE.

The inauguration of this space, created at the time by André Putman and renovated today by us, in the center of Basel will take place on February 9, 2019 with a solo exhibition of the swiss artist, Not Vital.
Wilde is a young gallery that, paradoxically, has a long history. Its activity is inseparable from that of Art Bärtschi & Cie in Geneva since 1990 and the departure of its founder Guy Bärtschi in 2014. Encouraged by the success of this first phase of transition, the existing team has chosen to rename the structure " Wilde. "

© Greg Clement

NOT VITAL

Not Vital was born in 1948 in Sent, Graubünden (CH). He divides his time between the USA, Niger, Italy and China, as well as Switzerland. His works are inspired by personal impressions and experiences gained on his many trips around the world. He processes images and forms from various cultures into new sculpture projects and installations, always in keeping with the traditions of the respective cultures. His complex work integrates architecture as well as the general development of various different lifestyles and the typical repertoire of forms and symbols, according to location. His materials conserve the often volatile nature of the processes and objects, as well as of those organic materials which fascinate him; he favours the use of bronze, gold, aluminium, silver, stainless steel and marble. His anthropological curiosity structures his career into sections devoted to, for example, glass blowers in Murano, Tuareg jewellery makers in North Africa or paper artists in Bhutan. The titles of his mostly representational works are clear and descriptive, emphasising the figurative dimension vis-à-vis the abstract appearance created by the durability of the material and the isolation from the cultural origin. The viewer is captivated by the tension between organic form and inorganic material in Not Vital's work, which is distinguished by an almost meditative, timeless quality.