Vali Myers, a unique character of the authentic Amalfi Coast lifestyle in the 60s.
Vali Myers was not only an artist who refused a lifestyle scheme imposed by modern society. She represents an inner conception of connections between the femenine world and Mother Nature.
I remember when I was a little girls and I used to watch her on the pier, catching the small boat with a red fish sign which used to bring her at Adolfo’s restaurant. I was fascinated by her tattoos, her long skirts and her beautiful and wild red hair. She was the lady who inspired me for loving art and nature. At that time, lots of artists who created that unique cultural soul of Positano died or had gone. I only had the possibility to see Vali, Nureyev and Zeffirelli walking on the streets of Positano at a time when our beautiful Positano was becoming an international Jet Set place.
Many people at tat time were wondering if She was popular…
I don’t think She cared and for sure we didn’t care. It was important what she represented for us: a free soul, a pagan spirit, a woman who taught us how to deeply connect with Nature.
Who was She?
In 1952, Vali left Paris, together with her companion Rudy Rappold, after a hard period of life. They arrived in Capri but, as it happened with many artists who were looking for a simpler life, they moved to Positano. Here they restored an old wreck sited outside the town centre, and area called Vallone Porto which nowadays is a protected Natural Reserve, unique for its microclimate and flora.
Surrounded by an incredible vegetation, sheep, dogs, frogs and her beloved Foxy (a Fox Vali saved and adopted), Vali and Rudi embraced an ecological lifestyle that anticipates the hippie search of ascetic and ancestral life where man speaks the same language of Nature!
With her eclectic paintings representing the feminine world through a mystic trance, Vali became muse of Francesco Scavullo, Patti Smith and Marianne Faithfull.
Between all, Vali inspired Gianni Menichetti, an important artist for Positano, who still lives in Vallone Porto and protects this hidden corner of Positano:
Gianni first arrived at Vallone Porto when he was 18. Not long after his arrival, Gianni became Vali’s lover and willing slave, and she, his Goddess, mentor and muse. With Vali as his teacher, Gianni learnt fluent English, a wealth of poetry and literature, hundreds of songs, and a charming collection of colloquial Australian sayings:
http://www.giannimenichetti.com
Vali never had kids, She once wrote:
“I use the mythical Madonna figure a lot in my art. The center of life is female – we all come from our mothers. I’ve always drawn women or female spirits. I feel deeply about this – who gives a damn about some guy on a cross? My mother’s creativity was smothered after she married and raised a family, but she was supportive of me – even my father expected me to carry on in her footsteps. I prefer to have no kids but lots of animals.”
and here’s what she wrote about Marianne Faithful:
“Marianne Faithful turned up one day with her boyfriend to see some of my work. I thought, who is this scrawny little guy, so I said to him, what is it you do Micky? How would I know who the bloody hell Mick Jagger was? – I wasn’t interested in Mick Jagger, I was always into Marianne. She was a real fighter.”
For extra info, you can visit the following websites:
https://www.valimyerstrust.com/about-vali-myers/
https://www.rocaille.it/vali-myers-the-witch-of-positano/