Kunsthalle Basel is proud to present the first solo exhibition of Allyson Vieira in Europe. The exhibition opens on Friday, September 13th, 2013.

In the exhibition The Plural Present at Kunsthalle Basel, Vieira is showing sculptures made of simple construction materials such as brick, concrete, metal and plaster. Two collapsing walls of aluminium bars – The Long Walls – determine the choreography and our perception of the gallery space. These establish the direction of movement along the longitudinal walls and at the same time, through their regular matrix, establish visual axes right across the room. Between the walls we encounter the central figural group, Beauty, Mirth, and Abundance. The three female figures in contrapposto are modelled out of bricks and make allusion to the much-copied marble statue group of the Three Graces today housed in the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Leaning against the walls of the gallery are pieces from Vieira´s on-going Clads series, begun in 2012. They call to mind antique steles and wall reliefs, geological sediments, or minimalist sculptures such as John McCracken´s monolithic slabs.

Allyson Vieira -