Mary Vieira (São Paulo SP 1927 - Basileia, Suíça 2001)
Sculptor, teacher.
In 1944, she studied drawing and painting with Guignard (1896 - 1962) at the Escola de Belas Artes de Belo Horizonte. She also studied sculpture with Franz Weissmann (1911 - 2005) and Amilcar de Castro (1920 - 2002). She researched movement and the dynamics of forms and, in 1948, produced her first electromechanical sculptures and a group of works in wood titled Multivolumes. From 1949 she produced the first Polivolumes [Polyvolumes]. In 1951, she moved to Switzerland, where she took an advanced course with Max Bill (1908 - 1994). In 1954, at Max Bill's invitation, she took part in Switzerland in the last exhibition of the Allianz group, made up of artists devoted to constructivist tendencies. That year she began working in graphic design and created, among other works, the poster for the exhibition Brasilien Baut [Brazil Builds], held in Zurich in 1954, in which she also took part with eight works. From 1966, she taught at the School of Art, Graphic Planning Techniques and Industrial Design of the University of Basel, Switzerland. From 1970, she produced a series of monumental works in Switzerland and Brazil, such as Polivolume: Ponto de Encontro [Polyvolume: Meeting Point] for the Palácio Itamaraty in Brasília.
Critical Commentary
From 1949, Mary Vieira produced the first Polivolumes, abstract-geometric structures that combine a solid part with movable segments: plates or concentric circles that rotate around a fixed axis. These pieces take on multiple configurations as the viewer handles them, representing countless plastic possibilities contained in a single form. They are almost always large works in steel or aluminum, executed with refined technique. In the Polivolumes, Mary Vieira explores ideas of containment and movement.
In Polivolume: Disco Plástico, Ideia para uma Progressão Serial [Polyvolume: Plastic Disk, Idea for a Serial Progression], 1953/1962, she uses a square aluminum plate from which several concentric circles are cut; these are attached to a vertical axis and can be moved by the viewer. Many different forms are thus obtained from the same composition.
Seriality is an important component of her work: the artist creates multipliable sculptures not in the form of identical copies but as a single piece containing several others. In 1965, she produced 5,000 copies of Polivolume: Disco Plástico for a Zurich department store: her production allows and calls for seriality. In 1970, a retrospective of her Polivolumes was held at the 35th Venice Biennale.
With the simplicity that distinguishes her constructions, the works seduce not through a defined, imposed movement but through the countless solutions offered by a single sculpture. They therefore involve questions related to abstract art, viewer participation and seriality, and are also linked to a new architecture.
According to the critic and poet Murilo Mendes (1901 - 1975), the Polivolumes stand out for their constructive force, the singularity of their lines, their careful technical execution and, above all, the poetic freedom associated with them. Mary Vieira's sculptures, owing to their dynamic character and form, make possible playful experiences of space and time.
Critiques
"Mary Vieira occupies the position of a Brazilian artist of constructivist affiliation, within the universal breadth of that current of aesthetic philosophy. From a biographical point of view, her conduct has been distinguished since 1948 by the thematic coherence that unifies an extensive body of work within a particular line of aesthetic thought. (...) Mary Vieira proposes her constructions - the multidimensional polyvolumes - in terms of sculpture, insofar as they are seen as objects of defined form, majestic in their immediate appearance. However, from the moment the viewer, prompted to touch the movable elements, begins to alter and vary infinitely the forms that follow with each shift of the parts, that initial grandeur gives way to playful leisure, to involvement in an experience based on dynamic visuality. The construction then becomes more object than sculpture, more an instrument for exercising aesthetic sensibility than preestablished information. It is up to the participating viewer to create and recreate the successive forms and discoveries, which hold together as an ordering of plastic attributes, since they in no way lose their inherent rhythm and harmony. The multidimensional polyvolumes do not require one to walk around them, for, by appealing to the viewer's hands, they obtain sufficient interference to bring about the time-space dimensioning (the virtuality of the fourth dimension), establishing a dialogue between perception and form. Critical commentary adds almost nothing; it merely helps prompt the most intimate knowledge of Mary Vieira's multidimensional polyvolumes..."
Clarival do Prado Valladares
Valladares, Clarival do Prado. Mary Vieira. Projeto construtivo brasileiro na arte (1950-1962). São Paulo: Pinacoteca do Estado; Rio de Janeiro: MAM, 1977. p. 184.
"Born in São Paulo, Mary Vieira, from 1948, after completing fine arts courses in Belo Horizonte, began to define research into cinevisual structures specific to her sculptural development, revealing a rigorous and never-abandoned discipline of spirit within the concrete current. The viewer's active participation in the work will be a constantly applied principle at the semantic root of the polyvolumes she developed in Switzerland. Although her professional life unfolded from 1951 in that country - where, from 1966, she added to her sculptural work teaching duties at the School of Art and Techniques of Graphic Planning and Industrial Design in Basel -, Mary Vieira, on frequent stays in Brazil, set her polyvolumes here, considering them 'interchangeable ludoplastic components when inserted into the urban context'. The movable part of these metal structures is reserved for the viewer's formative impulses of discovery, structures in which energy and precision complement each other in conception and constructive method. A sentence by the artist defines the ultimate aims of the reductions proposed in her formal sculptural research: 'The polyvolume does not seek to awaken extra-plastic symbols or analogies, but to convey ideas'".
Walter Zanini
Zanini, Walter (org.). História geral da arte no Brasil. São Paulo: Instituto Walther Moreira Salles: Fundação Djalma Guimarães, 1983. v. 2, p. 660.
"Mary Vieira knows that the greatness of today's art lies in placing itself on a plane tangent to that of scientific research; in abandoning cautious schemes; in taking possession of autonomous territories once occupied by the genius of nature; in the openness of its protagonists, always open to metamorphoses, astonishment and ruptures; in accepting a discipline, but with the right to vertigo. Sculpture ought to be integrated into the architectural context of the city. Its fate is decided above all between the collector (including the museum), the public building and the park. But such an exact integration into the environment is for the moment a rare occurrence: sculpture is the black sheep of the arts. The series of problems that concern it certainly touches closely the anarcho-individualist Mary Vieira, who in any case shares in the collective consciousness. Whoever says Switzerland also says clock, obedience to time, mechanics, Max Bill (1908-1994), the obsession with the 'functional', adherence to a code of values perhaps older than William Tell. Would Mary Vieira choose, for her cultural operation, the extreme edges of modern classicism, the ease of fast-consumption materials or the immediacy of pop? She chose - as we know - the gamble of non-absolute rigidity, the invention of sculptures between the everyday and the magical; she chose recourse to a recent tradition, but one already with its own perspective; the line of compressed monumentality; the apparent absurdity of a geometry in explosion".
Murilo Mendes
Mendes, Murilo. Mary Vieira. In: Amaral, Aracy (org.). Quatro mestres escultores contemporâneos; Arte e espaço urbano: quinze propostas. Brasília: Fundação Athos Bulcão, 1996. p. 31.
"Mary Vieira's remarkable work needs to be better known in Brazil. This is explained by the artist's prolonged absence, as she worked in Switzerland from 1951 and now lives in Italy. A precursor of kinetic art, her most notable invention is the 'polyvolumes', structures that combine a solid body coupled to movable segments: concentric circles or plates that turn around an axis inserted in a closed volume or fixed sheet. Impeccably executed, these pieces take on multiple variations when handled. In them, containment and movement are precisely articulated. Objects or large-scale works in aluminum or steel, these sculptures retain from constructivist aesthetics the intelligence of rotating flat surfaces in space anticipated by Rodchenko. Despite calling for the viewer's intervention, the hieratic presence of these columns in public spaces evokes something of the sculptural tradition. When at rest, the 'apparent absurdity of a geometry in explosion' referred to by Murilo Mendes rises up as a monument".
Maria Alice Milliet
MOSTRA DO REDESCOBRIMENTO (2000 : SÃO PAULO, SP), AGUILAR, Nelson (org. ), SASSOUN, Suzanna (coord.). Arte moderna. São Paulo : Fundação Bienal de São Paulo: Associação Brasil 500 anos Artes Visuais, 2000. p. 54.
Solo Exhibitions
1955 - Neuchâtel (Switzerland) - Solo, at Musée d'ethnographie de Neuchâtel
1956 - Leverkusen (Germany) - Solo, at Morsbroich Museum
1958 - Basel (Switzerland) - Solo, at Galeria de Arte Moderna
1959 - Saint Gallen (Switzerland) - Solo, at Museu de Arte
1960 - Leverkusen (Germany) - Solo, at Morsbroich Museum
1961 - Amsterdam (Netherlands) - Solo, at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
1961 - Basel (Switzerland) - Solo, at Kunsthalle
1961 - Stockholm (Sweden) - Solo, at Moderna Museet
1961 - Pittsburgh (United States) - Solo, at Carnegie Institute
1963 - Copenhagen (Denmark) - Proposta para um Salão II [Proposal for a Salon II], at Galerie Hybler
1963 - Paris (France) - Proposta para um Salão I [Proposal for a Salon I], at Galerie Denise René
1971 - Tel Aviv (Israel) - Solo, at Tel Aviv Museum of Art
1978 - Brasília DF - Solo, at Galeria de Arte Moderna
1978 - Basel (Switzerland) - Polivolumes [Polyvolumes], at Galeria de Arte Moderna
Group Exhibitions
1947 - Araxá MG - Exhibition of the Productive Classes of Minas Gerais
1947 - Belo Horizonte MG - Salon of Young Brazilian Artists, at Prefeitura de Belo Horizonte - grand prize
1951 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Allianz Group
1953 - Paris (France) - 18th Salon des Réalités Nouvelles
1953 - São Paulo SP - 2nd São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão dos Estados - acquisition prize in sculpture
1954 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Allianz Group, at Helmhaus
1954 - Zurich (Switzerland) - O Brasil Construído [Brazil Builds], at Kunstgewerbemuseum
1955 - São Paulo SP - 3rd São Paulo International Biennial, at Pavilhão das Nações
1957 - Berlin (Germany) - Interbau Berlin
1958 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 7th National Salon of Modern Art, at MAM/RJ
1959 - Antwerp (Belgium) - 5th Swiss National Open-Air Sculpture Exhibition, at Museu Middelheim
1959 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Gartenbauausstellung - 1st Swiss Landscaping Exhibition
1960 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Konkrete Kunst, at Helmhaus
1961 - Paris (France) - 2nd Paris Biennale, at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris
1962 - Bern (Switzerland) - 3rd Swiss National Open-Air Sculpture Exhibition
1962 - Leverkusen (Germany) - Konstruktivisten, at Morsbroich Museum
1962 - Paris (France) - Art Abstrait-Constructif International, at Galerie Denise René
1963 - Paris (France) - 18th Salon des Réalités Nouvelles
1963 - Paris (France) - Formes Mathématiques: Peintres et Sculpteurs Contemporains, at Palais de la Découverte
1964 - Darmstadt (Germany) - International Exhibition of Toreutic Forms, at Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt
1964 - Pittsburgh (United States) - Pittsburgh International, at Carnegie Institute
1965 - Bern (Switzerland) - Light and Movement, at Kunsthalle Bern
1965 - Paris (France) - 20th Salon des Réalités Nouvelles
1966 - Arnhem (Netherlands) - Sonsbeek '66 - 5th International Sculpture Exhibition
1966 - Bern (Switzerland) - 4th Swiss National Open-Air Sculpture Exhibition
1966 - Geneva (Switzerland) - Swiss Concrete Art, at Galerie Aktuell
1966 - Bern (Switzerland) - Swiss Concrete Art, at Galerie Aktuell
1966 - Paris (France) - 21st Salon des Réalités Nouvelles, at Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris - Marinetti International Prize
1967 - Berlin (Germany) - Brasilien Baut Brasília, at Interbau
1967 - Geneva (Switzerland) - Brazilian Art Exhibition, at Sala Intercontinental
1967 - Gent (Belgium) - Plus-Meeting, at Museu de Belas Artes
1967 - Düsseldorf (Germany) - From Constructivism to Kineticism, at Galerie René-Hans Mayer
1967 - Montreux (Switzerland) - 5th Swiss National Open-Air Sculpture Exhibition
1967 - Sissach (Switzerland) - Aspects of the Female Contribution to Swiss Culture: 13 Women Artists
1968 - Milan (Italy) - 14th Milan Triennial
1968 - Turin (Italy) - Ordo: 19 Protagonists of Cinevisual Poetry and Plasticity, at Estúdio de Informação Estética
1968 - Venice (Italy) - 34th Venice Biennale
1969 - Nuremberg (Germany) - 1st Nuremberg Biennial
1970 - Basel (Switzerland) - A.R.I. International Art Exhibition
1970 - Ingelheim am Rhein (Germany) - Brazilian Culture and Art. Brazilian Week of Ingelheim am Rhein
1970 - Stuttgart (Germany) - Ordo, at Galeria Am Berg
1970 - Venice (Italy) - 35th Venice Biennale
1971 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Multiples Exhibition, at Petite Galerie
1974 - Montreal (Canada) - Exhibition of the Pioneers of Cinevisualism, at Universidade Católica de Montreal
1976 - São Paulo SP - National Biennial 76, at Fundação Bienal
1977 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, at MAM/RJ
1977 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, at Pinacoteca do Estado
1977 - São Paulo SP and Rio de Janeiro RJ - Brazilian Constructive Project in Art: 1950-1962, at Pinacoteca do Estado and at MAM/RJ
1978 - São Paulo SP - 10th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP - prize em objeto
1979 - Basel (Switzerland) - Bilan de l'Art Suisse d'Avantgarde. International Art Salon, at Galeria de Arte Moderna
1980 - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - Ochenta Años de Arte Brasileño, at Banco Itaú
1980 - São Paulo SP - 12th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP - 1st prize
1981 - São Paulo SP - 13th Panorama of Current Brazilian Art, at MAM/SP
1982 - Bauru SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1982 - Marília SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1982 - Milan (Italy) - Constructivisme, Concretisme, Cinevisualisme International: les pionniers, at Galeria Arte Struktura
1982 - São Paulo SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at MAB/Faap
1983 - Belo Horizonte MG - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at Fundação Clóvis Salgado. Palácio das Artes
1983 - Campinas SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at MACC
1983 - Curitiba PR - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at MAC/PR
1983 - Ribeirão Preto SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art
1983 - Santo André SP - 80 Years of Brazilian Art, at Prefeitura Municipal de Santo André
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: A Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, at Fundação Bienal
1987 - Bern (Switzerland) - 8th Swiss Sculpture Exhibition of the City of Bern
1987 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 1st Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neo-Concretism, at Funarte
1987 - São Paulo SP - 1st Geometric Abstraction: Concretism and Neo-Concretism, at MAB/Faap
1990 - Basel (Switzerland) - Sources de l'Art Concret International: contrastes, at Galeria de Arte Moderna
1991 - São Paulo SP - Constructivism: Poster Art 40/50/60, at MAC/USP
1992 - Poços de Caldas MG - Brazilian Modern Art: Collection of the Museu de Arte Contemporânea da Universidade de São Paulo, at Casa de Cultura de Poços de Caldas
1992 - Zurich (Switzerland) - Brasilien: Entdeckung und Selbstentdeckung, at Kunsthaus Zürich
1994 - São Paulo SP - Bienal Brasil Século XX, at Fundação Bienal
1996 - Belo Horizonte MG - The Consolidation of Modernity in Belo Horizonte, at MAP
1996 - Brasília DF - Four Contemporary Brazilian Master Sculptors, at Palácio Itamaraty
1996 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Tendencies in the MAC/USP Collection: Construction, Measure and Proportion, at CCBB
1996 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Art: 50 Years of History in the MAC/USP Collection: 1920-1970, at MAC/USP
1997 - São Paulo SP - Brazilian Sculpture: Profile of an Identity, at Banco Safra
1997 - São Paulo SP - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Itaú Cultural
1997 - Washington (United States) - Brazilian Sculpture: Profile of an Identity, at Centro Cultural do BID
1998 - Belo Horizonte MG - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Itaú Cultural
1998 - Brasília DF - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Galeria Itaú Cultural
1998 - Penápolis SP - Three-Dimensionality in 20th-Century Brazilian Art, at Galeria Itaú Cultural
2000 - São Paulo SP - Brasil + 500 Rediscovery Exhibition, at Fundação Bienal
Posthumous Exhibitions
2001 - Belo Horizonte MG - Modernism in Minas: Reference Icons, at Itaú Cultural
2001 - Penápolis SP - Modernism in Minas: Reference Icons, at Galeria Itaú Cultural
2001 - New York (United States) - Brazil: Body and Soul, at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
2001 - São Paulo SP - Museu de Arte Brasileira: 40 Years, at MAB/Faap
2002 - São Paulo SP - Line as the Structure of Form, at MAM/SP
2002 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Paths of the Contemporary 1952-2002, at Paço Imperial
2002 - Brasília DF - JK - An Aesthetic Adventure, at Conjunto Cultural da Caixa
2003 - Mexico City (Mexico) - Cuasi Corpus: arte concreto y neoconcreto de Brasil: una selección del acervo del Museo de Arte Moderna de São Paulo y la Colección Adolpho Leirner, at Museo Rufino Tamayo
2004 - Belo Horizonte MG - Pampulha, Collected Work: 1943-2003, at MAP
2004 - São Paulo SP - Paper Cabinet, at CCSP
2005 - São Paulo SP - O Tempo do Movimento [The Time of Movement], at CCBB
Source: Itaú Cultural
