Shadows of the Wanderer at Studio 3 Gallery

Shadows of the Wanderer an exhibition by Ana Maria Pacheco will be displayed at the University of Kent from 17 Jan to 17 May 2011, Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.

The exhibition, which will take place in Studio 3 Gallery on the University’s Canterbury campus, is free and open to all. There is disabled access to the Gallery.

This work by Ana Maria Pacheco has been described by Galleries Magazine as ‘a major new sculptural work by perhaps the most powerful and original of significant artists practicing in this country’.

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Ana Maria Pacheco is a Brazilian artist who has lived and worked in Britain since 1973. She was Head of Fine Art at Norwich School of Art (1985-89) and Associate Artist at the National Gallery (1997-2000). She has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad and her work is represented in major public collections (British Museum, British Council, Arts Council, Tate, V&A etc). Pacheco works across sculpture, painting and printmaking as a figurative artist.

Shadows of the Wanderer is a multi-piece figure sculpture in polychromed wood. In it a group of larger than life, darkly robed figures witness the struggle of a young man to carry an older man on his shoulders. The figures of the young man burdened by the old suggest a reference to the beginning of Virgil’s Aeneid, where the hero Aeneas carries his lame father Anchises out of the burning city of Troy. As in previous works by Pacheco, for example The Longest Journey (1994), Shadows of the Wanderer initiates a journey into unknown territory; a journey that the beholder is invited to participate in.

Shadows of the Wanderer was created in 2008 and was previously exhibited at the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts in 2008, and at St John’s Waterloo in 2010. The exhibition at Studio 3 in Canterbury has been organised in association with Pratt Contemporary Art. A fully illustrated catalogue with essays by Brendan Prendeville and Christopher Reid is available. The series of Dark Event prints (2007) by Pacheco will also be displayed alongside Shadows of the Wanderer.

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This exhibition has been organised in association with Pratt Contemporary Art.

8 thoughts on “Shadows of the Wanderer at Studio 3 Gallery”

  1. Every angle tells a different story. You can look into the the eyes of the sculptures and see the depth of emotion in them.

  2. The over life-size figures crowd close together and stand as looming shadows behind a young man carrying an older man on his back.

    This results in what can only be described as an incredibly haunting experience.

  3. A stunning exhibition. Every time you look at the figures, you see something different. An incredible work of art.

  4. I was really moved by this work – it is visually striking and intriguing, the technical execution is outstanding and everywhere you walk and look brings a different character to life. Exceptional – really exceptional. Thank you for bringing it to Kent.

  5. This group works well here – like a tableau vivant – They’re on their way somewhere – escaping – it’s ambiguous whether what they’ll find will be an improvement on the present.

  6. There are twelve persons. Is that by chance? The lighting is good and there is a magic in the room. Their shoulders made a strong impression and made me feel the tension and alarm in many of them.
    In contrast, the melancholic serenity that the young boy expresses is beautiful. They are all beautiful with their tragic mystery. Their humaness.
    If I should express a wish, I would say that a less polished aesthetic, less perfect surface, would have been interesting. Like something borm up from the inside. A roughness, like life.

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