28 January - 2 April 2006

Some exercise of power	Acrobats	The Banquet

Bold, disturbing, yet highly compelling sculptures by the internationally acclaimed Brazilian artist, Ana Maria Pacheco. The exhibition explores issues of oppression, victimisation, control and power in a highly emotive, dramatic and confrontational setting. On exhibition will be three works - Acrobats, Some Exercise of Power and The Banquet. The artist examines the darker side of human nature in the sculptural series, created in the early 1980s. Larger than life wooden figures depict sinister and eerie scenes - suited bureaucrats tower over naked and bound victims; semi-naked figures hang upside down from ropes attached to high beams.

The artist draws inspiration for her work from her native Brazil's long history of economic, political and religious upheaval. The imagery and symbolism of the Roman Catholic religion, with its tradition of painted wooden saints in churches, and Brazil's strong tradition of myth and ritual are also common strands of her work.

Ana Maria Pacheco was born in Brazil in 1943 and came to England in 1973 on a British Council Scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art, where she studied under the figurative sculptor Reg Butler.  She quickly established herself as an extremely talented and diverse artist, with work ranging from painting and sculpture to printmaking, and today is regarded as a leading contemporary figurative artist.