Ana Maria Pacheco

Ana Maria Pacheco (born 1943) is a Brazilian sculptor, painter, and printmaker. Her work is influenced by her Brazilian heritage and often focuses on supernatural themes, incorporating them into unfolding narratives within her work. Pacheco's work has been displayed in galleries internationally and has won multiple awards throughout her career.

Life Pacheco was born in Goiás, Brazil in 1943. While living in Brazil, she studied sculpture and music from Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás and the Federal University of Goiás. She received the Ordem de Rio Branco from the Brazilian government in 1999. Her artworks depict narratives that are discovered by the viewer through their experience of looking, specifically playing on their curiosity to arouse their interest and imagination. She claims that her biggest influence is O Aleijadinho.

Pacheco is best known for her multi-figure groups of polychrome sculptures carved from wood. These are typically exhibited as installation pieces and include Man and his Sheep (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery) and Dark Night of the Soul (1999), created during her residency at the National Gallery, London as a response to The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian by the Pollaiuolo brothers.

Pacheco (with a team of two helpers) produced a large figure in yellow limestone for the Stoke-on-Trent National Garden Festival of 1986.

Pacheco was the first sculptor Associate Artist at the National Gallery in London between 1997 and 2000.

In 2015 Pacheco's work was displayed in four simultaneous exhibitions across venues in Norwich. The exhibition opened on 23 July 2017. It was at this exhibition that Pacheco's work Be Aware was first publicly displayed. On the exhibition, Creswell said: '"The theme of the exhibition is hope, an optimistic attitude, and a firm belief in the positive side of human nature along with its power to drive the darkness from our lives.... Ana Maria’s work makes us aware of our vulnerability as well as illuminating our humanity. It allows us to reflect on the way we frail, brave humans deal with our journey of life, its many contradictions and dimensions of reality – the imperfectability of existence."'

Exhibitions

Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (1983) Artsite Gallery and St John's Catholic Church, Bath - Sculpture, Painting, Drawing and Prints. Exhibition toured on to Cornerhouse, Manchester; Wolverhampton Art Gallery; Worcester City Art Gallery; Worcester Cathedral; Metropole Arts Centre, Folkestone; Milton Keynes Exhibition Gallery; Glasgow Print Studio Gallery (1989) Some Exercise of Power, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford. Touring on to the Camden Arts Centre, London (1991) Trondhjems Kunstforening, Trondheim, Norway (1992) Trilogy: Sculpture and Prints, Winchester Cathedral (1992) Oslo Kunstforening, Norway (1993) Norwich Castle Museum, Norfolk (1994) The Gas Hall, Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (1994) Ormeau Baths Gallery, Belfast, Northern Ireland (1995) Cass Sculpture Foundation, Chichester (1995) The Trout Gallery, Weiss Center for the Arts at Dickinson College, Pennsylvania, USA (1996) The Old Jail Arts Center, Albany, Texas, USA (1997) Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland (1999) National Gallery, London. Exhibition toured on to Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester; Mappin Art Gallery, Sheffield (1999) Ashmolean Museum, Oxford (2001) Dark Night of the Soul, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York City (2002) Land of No Return, Salander-O'Reilly Galleries, New York City (2003) Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (2004) Hayward Touring: A touring exhibition organised by the Hayward Gallery for Arts Council England (2004- 2010) Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MA, USA (2007) Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts (2008) Wallspace at All Hallows on the Wall, London (2008) St John's Church, Waterloo (2010) Studio 3 Gallery, University of Kent at Canterbury (2011) The Longest Journey at Salisbury Cathedral (North Transept), Salisbury International Arts Festival (2012) Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Brazil (2012-2013) Edinburgh Arts Festival, St Albert's Catholic Chaplaincy (2013) Shadows of the Wanderer; Cathedral of St John the Baptist - Studies of Heads (John the Baptist I & III), The Gallery at Norwich University of the Arts; Norwich Cathedral (North Transept) (2015) Enchanted Garden, Norwich Castle Museum (2015-2017) Shadows of the Wanderer, Chichester Cathedral (2016) Dispersing the Night, Salisbury Cathedral (2017) Galway International Arts Festival, Ireland (2017)

Awards and appointments

First Prize, Goiás Biennale. Selected to represent Brazil at the São Paulo Biennale, 1970 British Council Scholarship to the Slade School of Fine Art, London, 1973 Head of Fine Art, Norwich School of Art, Norfolk, 1985-89 Invited to Burgdorfer Bildhauer-Symposion, Switzerland - The Human Image of Today, 1986 Appointed fourth Associate Artist, National Gallery London, 1997-2000 Ordem do Rio Branco from the Brazilian Government, 1999 Honorary Doctorate, University of East Anglia, 2002 Honorary Doctorate, Norwich University of the Arts, 2002 Fellow of University College London, 2003 Comenda do Anhanguera from the State of Goiás, Brazil, 2012 Mário Pedrosa Award for Contemporary Artist from the Brazilian Association of Art Critics, 2015