MANUEL Palacio is an artist of fierce talent. He is also an artist almost completely obsessed by sex. His retrospective show, at the Masterworks Gallery is not, therefor, for prudes, but I would warn almost everybody who hasn?t the most advanced ideas that it really isn?t suitable for children either. In a way this is a pity, because Mr. Palacio's work is nothing if not powerful and is unusual in Bermuda because almost all the works are figurative.

He has an excellent knowledge of anatomy and is thus able to exaggerate and distort in the furtherance of his overtly sexual images without losing the underlying human qualities and, indeed, the humanity of his subject matter.

He also has a confident command of his media. His charcoal images are informed by depth and texture. His mixed media presentations, in acrylic over paper are rendered with confident warm colour schemes. What are really outstanding, however, are his figurative bronzes.

Underlying the entire presentation is the obvious trauma of his recent divorce. There are eight works in acrylic painted over legal communications relating to the divorce, some of the wording of which may be read. Most of the legal papers are completely painted over by various more or less genitally explicit paintings and are not the highlight of the show. Rather they seem to be representative of the artist?s catharsis under the stress and misery brought about by the divorce. They are well enough painted but their obsessive nature, varying from the vaginal to the gluteal and including what seem to be a couple of genital self-portraits becomes somewhat oppressive.

Of his deeply perceptive charcoal worksis a study in half profile of a nude from waist to knee. It is overwritten with words that didn?t seem to me to help the thrust of the work and somewhat took away from its artistic quality. On the other hand , a voluptuous kneeling nude was enhanced by the barely noticeable written messages, "I want to dance" and "Let me grow wings", added next to the profile of the figure. They lent it an extra emotional dimension.

His as always confidently rendered charcoal Thank showed a couple of nude young men, one Caucasian and the other of African origin in an embrace which was not overtly sexual.

However it had a spiritual charm that made a far more important point than overt sexuality could possibly have done.

In somewhat the same vein were two mixed media collage works with biblical content. centred on Matthew 23, 36-40, Christ's restatement of the fundamental laws of Jew and Christian alike, to love God and one's neighbour. This was cut out from a Bible and emphasized heavily in a background of other, mainly obscured biblical passages. contained Paul's oft quoted definition of Christian love in Corinthians 13. Again it was a page taken from a Bible and presented upside down, surrounded by crumpled cuttings from pornographic magazines, none of them obviously explicit. The art was of less strength than the message.

The sculpture in this show, however, is the dominant feature. I have seen a little of Mr. Palacio's mixed media sculpture before and some of it looks as though it might be life-cast. Be that as it may, it always has impact. The five bronze sculptures, however, were the culmination of a powerful and controversial show. The smallest, , is wall mounted and depicts a torso, breasts thrust provocatively forward and legs spread invitingly. Like so much of Mr. Palacio?s work it is overtly sexual, but nevertheless charmingly so., a gluteally prominent figure of a woman, was less vibrant and alive than and was indifferently displayed rather too low for easy viewing. A little high, on the other hand, for comfortable viewing were a pair of fairly large bronze figures, one male and one female posed similarly in a dancing mode. The female has her arms raised, one to press one breast upwards, the other to allow the other breast to swing outwards. The sinuosity of movement is arranged in an almost spiral composition and is a perfectly balanced blend of movement and poise. The corresponding male is similarly a composition of balanced movement with arms raised to head level. The man?s in your face (actually a bit higher than that) erection, however, is so dominating that it detracts from the movement of the whole rather than adding anything in an artistic sense.

In a society unused to overt sexuality such an aggressive use of it can often detract rather than add to the purpose of a work. Nevertheless these are a pair of figurative sculptures as good as one is likely to find anywhere.

Even better, and in a way just as overtly sexual, but much less "in your face" is the smaller but splendid . This is of a couple in a passionate embrace, kissing deeply, the female aggressively on top and reaching between the male?s legs. There is nothing overt and no genitalia are visible, but the work exudes sexuality and the movement of passion is alive and vibrant. This is about the most compelling sculpture I remember seeing almost anywhere in recent years.

I must apologize for the tardiness of this "must see" review. The show will have closed by the time it is published. I tend to avoid the Masterworks' quick turnaround shows. Most of them are indifferent and the location of the gallery is nothing if not tiresome so I was not aware of this show until too late. I had, I hasten to add, no better impression of the management of the gallery this time than I have had in the past. The gallery was closed when I arrived after 9.30 a.m. on a day that it was advertised to be open from 9.00 a.m. to noon. The lights had to be turned on for me and there was no gallery supervision. I could have walked off with whatever I could carry and as far as I know anyone who arrived after I left could have taken the rest. Are the works on display at the Masterworks galleries even insured? If so are the insurers aware of the lax security?