IAN Thompson moved from Birmingham to a remote Pennine farmhouse as the ideal setting to pursue the art of sculpture. A decade on, the latest results can be seen in his new exhibition, Sculpture, at King's Manor, Exhibition Square, York.

After spending many years in teacher education, Thompson took early retirement from Birmingham Polytechnic in 1987 to work full time as an artist. Although born in Manchester and until recently president of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts, he set up his studio on the Yorkshire side of the Pennine divide, in a large barn at Stainland, between Huddersfield and Halifax.

On show in York are works in wood and steel. These materials produce contrasting effects and are sometimes used together, as in the piece Ecce Homo: the Head of Christ as Man is an imperfect piece of sycamore fashioned and polished on which a crown of thorns is firmly wedged.

Both religious and secular images are part of the repertoire; the work is mainly figurative, and the exhibition features paintings and drawings too.

Thompson first exhibited in York in 1990 in the Art In Churches exhibition at the Bar Convent Museum, and later he was commissioned to sculpt a kissing seat for a sensory garden in Acomb. In 1994 he collaborated with students from Henshaws College, Harrogate, to make a rain garden with a crocodile seat, double snake kissing seat and heron marker.

His Sculpture show now will run until September 5 rather than the original closing date of August 23. Opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday.

Updated: 10:37 Friday, July 25, 2003