Darcy Nicholas
"My paintings are about identity, the ancestral lines that connect me with the universe. I want to paint the spiritual richness that speaks of the timeless culture that I know. I hope we never lose the multiplicity of our heritage."
Darcy Nicholas is a member of the Taranaki mountain and the Tauranga Moana tribes of New Zealand. He is a leading Maori painter, sculptor, writer, curator, event manager and commentator on Maori art.
"My art is about the sacredness of life, our connections to our ancestors and the multi-dimensional nature of human existence.”
Darcy has been a driving force in raising national and international awareness of contemporary Maori art since the 1960s. He has lectured widely throughout many countries and his art is in public and private collections in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, United States of America, Britain, Germany, France and Japan.
Travelling and exhibiting in many countries, Darcy enjoys the close interaction and relationships with leading artists, collectors, gallery and museum professionals and art administrators from many countries.
He has held several senior executive positions since 1980 and is currently General Manager of Community Services for Porirua City Council. He is also responsible for Porirua’s Pataka Museum, city libraries, international programmes, visitor industries, city events, recreation programmes and the new Te Rauparaha Arena, which incorporates sporting facilities for major events, a fitness gym, aquatic centre, corporate rooms and a theatre.
Selected Exhibitions
1996 Patua Exhibition, Wellington International Arts Festival, Wellington
1996 Hendersonville, North Carolina
1995 Te Taumata Art Gallery, Auckland
1994 YMI Cultural Centre, Ashville, North Carolina
1994 Milford House, Dunedin
1993 Indigenous artists of NZ and the US, Taumata Gallery, Auckland
1992/93 Te Waka Toi - Contemporary Maori Art touring the United States (Museum of Man, San Diego; Heard Museum, Phoenix; Field Museum, Chicago; Burke Museum, Seattle; University of Hawaii - Oahu)
1991 International Arts Symposium, Lower Hutt
1990 International Stone Symposium, Timaru (African, Japanese, and Maori artists)
1987 National Galleries Zimbabwe, and Botswana (six Mäori artists in Africa)
1987 Galerie Roberson, Paris
1986 Galerie Sensitive, Paris
1985 Te Ao Maori (touring Australian galleries)
1985 Amphac Centre, Hawaii
1984 Curzon Club, London
1979 Gisborne City Art Gallery
1973/96 Several major exhibitions of Maori Art throughout NZ
1973 Pride Gallery, Lower Hutt (annually for six years)
1972 Antipodes Gallery, Wellington (annually for three years)
Links
Darcy Nicholas profile on the International Art Centre website
Darcy Nicholas profile on the Rona Art Gallery website
Darcy Nicholas Contemporary Maori Art website