Ann-Marie James's intricate paintings are built up through layer uponlayer of not only materials but also techniques. She often starts with adrawing of a human limb borrowed from art history, a leg purloined froma Bernini sculpture or a chubby arm of one of Peter Paul Rubens s putti.From it comes a silkscreen and then, at various points, James adds layersof thick medium, expressionistic splashes of acrylic and blobs of ink.Throughout she highlights different moments with delicate and precisedrawing around a spot of paint or a stenciled limb. Stepping back fromthe process and the detail, it appears that the overall compositions takeon an intense wave of dark, kinetic energy. Published on the occasionof the artist s gallery exhibition, this book features seven paintingsalongside a text by Michael Bracewell.