Born: 1943 Goiás, Brazil
Year of Migration to the UK: 1973
Biography
Sculptor, painter, printmaker and academic, Ana Maria Pacheco was born in Goiânia, Brazil in 1943. Between 1960 and 1964, she studied Sculpture and Music at the Pontifical Catholic University of Goiás and the Federal University of Goiás. In 1965, she pursued postgraduate studies in Music and Education at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and, between 1966 and 1973, taught at both institutions. In 1973, after winning a British Council scholarship, she immigrated to London and enrolled at the Slade School of Art at the University of London.
Pacheco’s artistic practice is particularly informed by her Brazilian heritage, in which she consistently explores themes around life, death and the human condition. Her work frequently incorporates elements of fantasy and the supernatural, using these motifs to engage with issues around gender and identity. Her narratives are often self-referential, inviting viewers to uncover layers of meaning through their own enquiries and engagement. Taking inspiration from sources such as Brazilian folklore, mythology, Christian mysticism, and medieval satire, Pacheco’s work considers the fragility and vulnerability of humanity. Her signature works are intricate, multi-figure polychrome wood sculptures. Influenced by the 18th century sculptor and architect from Brazil’s colonial period, Antônio Francisco Lisboa (or Aleijadinho) who was born to a Portuguese father and an Afro-Brazilian slave mother, Pacheco often explores the delicate yet powerful emotional depth present in his sacred and mystical religious sculptures. Her sculptures, paintings, and drawings frequently portray the human body in a style inspired by folklore, characterised by oval, robust, stout forms, elongated noses, and almond-shaped eyes.
Pacheco has exhibited in the UK and internationally. One of her earliest public works was a large figure in yellow limestone for the Stoke-on-Trent National Garden Festival in 1986. She was the first sculptor selected as Associate Artist at the National Gallery in London from 1997 to 2000. Ana Maria Pacheco: New Painting and Sculpture, an exhibition resulting from this opportunity, was first presented at the National Gallery and then toured the UK between 1999 and 2000. In 2015 Pacheco held four concurrent exhibitions in Norwich, Norfolk. Curated by Keith Roberts for the Norfolk Contemporary Art Society, in collaboration with Pratt Contemporary, the Norwich venues comprised: The GALLERY, Norwich University of the Arts; Norwich Cathedral; Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery; and The Cathedral of St John the Baptist. All of the exhibitions centred on themes of violence, journeys, death, love, transformation, and metamorphosis. Despite the gravity of these subjects, Pacheco’s art remained accessible and engaging, balancing seriousness with subtle humour, while avoiding any sense of pretension.
Pacheco has also addressed the experience of migration and movement in her work. Shadows of the Wanderer, the title of her 2016 exhibition at Chichester Cathedral, Sussex, featured 12 monumental wooden sculptures of refugees, all carved from a single lime tree trunk. Through this exhibition, Pacheco explored themes of exile, global migration, and displacement, alongside notions of optimism and hope. Despite the robust nature of the wood, the pieces also invited viewers to contemplate ideas of fragility and vulnerability. The haunting figures featured oversized quartz eyes, with a lifeless gaze, and real human teeth. The eerie, cloaked forms conveyed the despair of refugees, resembling wandering souls in a state of hopelessness, akin to the figures often seen in the global media coverage of contemporary migration crises. In 2017, Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire, showed the same pieces in an exhibition titled Dispersing in the Night.
In addition to her art practice, Pacheco is also an academic. From 1985 to 1989, she was the first woman to hold the position of Director of the Fine Arts Department at Norwich School of Art. In 2002, Pacheco was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Philosophy by the University of East Anglia in partnership with the Norwich School of Art and was elected a Fellow of University College London in 2003. She has also received several awards, including the Order of Rio Branco from the Brazilian government in 1999 and the Mário Pedrosa Award for Contemporary Artists from the Brazilian Association of Art Critics in 2015. Ana Maria Pacheco lives and works in London and Kent, England. Her works can be found in numerous public collections in the UK, including Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery; Harris Museum and Art Gallery; Wolverhampton Gallery; Norfolk Museums; Government Art Collection; and Tate.
Related books
- Marius Kociejowski, God's Zoo: Artists, Exiles, Londoners (Manchester: Carcanet, 2014)
- Marius Kociejowski, 'Ana Maria Pacheco's Journey to the Underworld or, Misfortunes of a Sardine', PN Review, Vol. 36, July/August 2010, pp. 31-44
- Sanda Miller, John Hedgecoe and George Szirtes, Ana Maria Pacheco (Aldershot: Lund Humphries, 2001)
- Kathleen Adler and Colin Wiggins, Ana Maria Pacheco in the National Gallery (London: National Gallery 1999)
- John Russell Taylor, 'The Big Show: Ana Maria Pacheco', The Times, 16 October 1999, p. 42
- William Packer, 'A Model of Devotional Art', Financial Times, 5 October 1999, p. 26
- Robert Clark, Ana Maria Pacheco, The Guardian, 18 December 1989, p. 27
Public collections
Related organisations
- Norwich School of Art (Director of the Fine Arts Department )
- Slade School of Fine Art (student)
- University of East Anglia (Honorary Doctorate )
Related web links
- AWARE Archives of Women Artists, Research and Exhibitions
- Backstage at the Festival - GIAF Festival Gallery talk with Ana Maria Pacheco
- BBC News, Salisbury Cathedral: Refugee sculptures
- Official page
- National Gallery
- Neil Powell, ‘Shadow of the Wanderer’, ART, 9 October 2016
- Norwich University of the Arts
- Pratt Contemporary
- The Art Workers' Guild
- University of Kent
Selected exhibitions
- Ana Maria Pacheco: Remember (solo presentation), Galway International Arts Festival, Galway, Ireland (2022)
- Dispersing in the Night (solo exhibition), Salisbury Cathedral, Salisbury, Wiltshire (2017)
- Shadows of the Wanderer (solo exhibition), Chichester Cathedral, Chichester, Sussex (2016)
- Ana Maria Pacheco: Sculpture, Norwich Castle Museum & Art Gallery/The GALLERY/Norwich University of the Arts/The Cathedral of St John the Baptist, Norwich, Norfolk (2015)
- Group show, Salisbury International Arts Festival, Salisbury (2012)
- Ana Maria Pacheco (solo exhibition), Mascalls Gallery, Paddock Wood, Kent (2009)
- Ana Maria Pacheco: Land of No Return (solo exhibition), Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Brighton, Sussex (2004)
- Ana Maria Pacheco: New Painting and Sculpture (solo exhibition), National Gallery, London and UK touring (1999)
- Trilogy: Sculpture and Prints (solo exhibition), Winchester Cathedral, Winchester, Hampshire (1992)
- Drawings by Ana Maria Pacheco (solo exhibition), Cornerhouse, Manchester (1989)
