Fatu Akelei Feu'u (born 1946) is a noted
Samoan painter from the village of Poutasi in the district of Falealili in Samoa. He has established a reputation as the elder statesman of Pacific art in New Zealand.
Biography
Feu'u emigrated to
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
in 1966 after growing up in the village of
Poutasi, Western Samoa.
He always wanted to be an artist and noted the difference of how art was viewed between Samoa and New Zealand, with 'beautifully made, functional canoes and houses' being art in Samoa and in New Zealand art was 'something extra special not to be touched'.
Feu'u has been an exhibiting artist since the early 1980s and became a full-time artist in 1988, prior to that he worked as a designer and colour advisor for textile and car companies.
He was influenced and mentored by artists
Tony Fomison,
Pat Hanly and
Philip Clairmont.
In 1995 he became the first artist of Pacific heritage awarded the
James Wallace Art Award.
He was appointed an Honorary Officer of the
New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have ren ...
in the
2001 New Year Honours
The 2001 New Year Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British honours system, where New Year's Day, 1 January, is marked in several Commonwealth countries by appointing new members of orders of chivalry and recipient ...
. In 2022 he received the Senior Pacific Artist Award at the
Creative New Zealand
The Arts Council of New Zealand Toi Aotearoa (Creative New Zealand) is the national arts development agency of the New Zealand government, investing in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes and developing markets ...
Arts Pasifika Awards
The Arts Pasifika Awards celebrate excellence in Pacific arts in New Zealand. The annual awards are administered by Creative New Zealand and are the only national awards for Pasifika artists across all artforms.
The Arts Pasifika Awards includ ...
.
Feu'u is 'pivotal in shaping the interest in contemporary Pacific art globally and nurturing a generation of Pacific artists locally'.
Artist
Dagmar Dyck recalls the influence he made on her in as he invited her into a Pasfika artist community near the end of her studies in 1993 at Elam art school in Auckland.
This act of recruitment, mentorship and collectivism was typical of the early beginnings of Fatu’s vision for contemporary Pacific arts. (Dagmar Dyck)
Creative work
Exhibitions
Feu'u has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in New Zealand and internationally with works in national and private collections worldwide. He has exhibited in solo and major group exhibitions including ''Samoa Contemporary'' (2008) at
Pataka Art + Museum
Pātaka Art + Museum is a municipal museum and art gallery of Porirua City, New Zealand. Te Marae o Te Umu Kai o Hau is the name of the building where Pātaka Museum + Art is located and opened in 1998. It also houses the Porirua City Library, Caf ...
in
Porirua.
Feu'u's work was included in two groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary Pacific art: ''
Te Moemoea no Iotefa'', curated by Rangihiroa Panaho for the
Sarjeant Art Gallery in 1990 and ''
Bottled Ocean'' curated by Jim Viviaeare, which toured New Zealand in 1994–1995.
Feu'u was part of the major group exhibition ''Le Folauga: the past coming forward – Contemporary Pacific Art from Aotearoa New Zealand'', at the Auckland Museum. ''Le Folauga'' later toured to
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and became the first exhibition of contemporary Pacific art from New Zealand to be shown in a major fine arts museum in Asia. ''Le Folauga'' opened at the
Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts in
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
from 13 December 2008 to 5 April 2009.
Collections
Feu'u's work is included in a number of prestigious national and international collections including the National Gallery, Brisbane;
Auckland Art Gallery;
Museum of New Zealand
The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...
Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington and
Waikato Museum
Waikato Museum ( mi, Te Whare Taonga o Waikato) is a regional museum located in Hamilton, New Zealand. The museum manages ArtsPost, a shop and gallery space for New Zealand art and design. Both are managed by the Hamilton City Council. Outside ...
of Art and History, Hamilton. His work is also included in an extensive number of private collections in New Zealand, Australia, United States of America, England, Holland, American Samoa, Samoa and Japan.
Public artworks
Two large wood and paint sculptures are found in Auckland. ''Ole Alia'' outside the
Massey
Massey may refer to:
Places
Canada
* Massey, Ontario
* Massey Island, Nunavut
New Zealand
* Massey, New Zealand, an Auckland suburb
United States
* Massey, Alabama
* Massey, Iowa
* Massey, Maryland
People
* Massey (surname)
Educati ...
Library and Leisure Centre and ''Unititled'' marks the entrance to the South Auckland suburb of
Ōtara
Ōtara is a suburb of South Auckland, New Zealand (formerly Manukau City), situated 18 kilometres to the southeast of the Auckland CBD. Ōtara lies near the head of the Tamaki River (actually an arm of the Hauraki Gulf), which extends south t ...
.
Artistic mediums
While primarily a painter, Feu'u explores a range of other mediums including bronze, wood and stone sculpture, pottery design, lithographs, woodcuts and glass works (both stained and etched).
Polynesian influences
Feu'u's work is inspired by
Polynesian art forms such as siapo (
tapa cloth
Tapa cloth (or simply ''tapa'') is a barkcloth made in the islands of the Pacific Ocean, primarily in Tonga, Samoa and Fiji, but as far afield as Niue, Cook Islands, Futuna, Solomon Islands, Java, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea an ...
), tatau (
tattoo
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing ...
), weaving, carving and ceremonial mask making.
In these forms he uses a rich lexicon of motifs and compositional structures. His works frequently blend traditional and contemporary elements, incorporating a range of influences, inspirations, techniques and motifs from Samoa and
Aotearoa and more generally from Euro-American to Pacific cultures.
[
]
Fa'asamoa
Fa'asamoa is the unifying element of Feu'u's work. The term ''fa'asamoa'' is generally defined as 'the Samoan way'. The social structure of Samoan society is held together and actively maintained by an adherence to unwritten but understood cultural conventions embodied in ''fa'asamoa'' which binds family networks to traditional customs and ceremonies.
Tautai Pacific Arts Trust
Tautai Pacific Arts Trust, an organisation of contemporary Pacific artists in New Zealand, was founded in the 1980s as an informal network from an initiative by Feu'u and artist friends. This group shared a goal of mutual support for the promotion of Pacific visual art artists, at a time when Pacific art was in the very early stages of recognition as a particular genre. In 2005, Tautai celebrated its 10th anniversary as a formalised organisation. Members include other established Pacific artists such as painter and sculptor Johnny Penisula
John Reuelu Penisula (born 1941) is a contemporary Samoan stone sculptor and painter living in New Zealand.
Penisula was born in Samoa and began painting when he was 13 years old. He moved to New Zealand in 1962 and set up home in Invercargi ...
, multi-media artist Shigeyuki Kihara and Michel Tuffery. By 2022 the Tautai Pacific Arts Trust is considered a leading Pacific arts organisation, the director is Courtney Sina Meredith, and the premises are on Karangahape Road
Karangahape Road (commonly known as K' Road) is one of the main streets in the central business district (CBD) of Auckland, New Zealand. The massive expansion of motorways through the nearby inner city area – and subsequent flight of resident ...
in Auckland.
References
External links
Works by Fatu Feu'u in the collection of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feu'u, Fatu
1946 births
Samoan painters
New Zealand painters
Living people
Honorary Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit
People from Atua (district)