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Darcy John Nicholas (born 1945) is a New Zealand artist, writer and art administrator.
Nicholas has been involved in the contemporary Māori art movement since the late 1960s. Nicholas spent 10 years with the New Zealand Police early in his career, but painted and exhibited during this time. In 1973 he decided to move into making art full-time. He has exhibited throughout New Zealand, Australia, Africa, United States, France, India, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, and Canada.
Nicholas was commissioned to produce a sculpture for the opening of Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in 2015.
nzonscreen.com
Darcy Nicholas' website
Art administration career
Nicholas opened his own art gallery in Lower Hutt in 1975. In 1981 he became director of the Wellington Arts Centre. He was appointed director of the Central Regional Arts Council in 1986 and in 1989 was appointed Assistant General Manager with the Iwi Transition Agency. Nicholas led the development of the Pataka Art + Museum complex inPorirua
Porirua, () a list of cities in New Zealand, city in the Wellington Region of the North Island of New Zealand, is one of the four cities that constitute the Wellington#Wellington metropolitan area, Wellington metropolitan area. The name 'Poriru ...
, which opened in 1998. He stepped down from his role as Pataka's director and Porirua City Council's community services general manager in 2012.
Nicholas also established the Māori Art Market art fair in 2005 and has remained involved in the creative leadership of the event.
Artistic practice
Nicholas has been involved in the contemporary Māori art movement since the late 1960s. Nicholas spent 10 years with the New Zealand Police early in his career, but painted and exhibited during this time. In 1973 he decided to move into making art full-time. He has exhibited throughout New Zealand, Australia, Africa, United States, France, India, Britain, Germany, Netherlands, and Canada.
Nicholas was commissioned to produce a sculpture for the opening of Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in 2015.
Awards and recognitions
*1984 Fulbright Scholarship to observe contemporary Native American and African America art in the United States * Queens Service Order for services to museums in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours *2013 Supreme Te Waka Toi award,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 established in 1963. It invests in artists and arts organisations, offering capability building programmes a ...
Personal life
Nicholas was born in Waitara in 1945. He lives inStokes Valley
Stokes Valley, a major suburb of the city of Lower Hutt in the North Island of New Zealand, lies at the edge of the city, seven kilometres northeast of the city centre. It occupies the valley of a small tributary of the Hutt River, called Sto ...
, Lower Hutt. Nicholas is of Māori (Te Āti Awa
Te Āti Awa or Te Ātiawa is a Māori iwi with traditional bases in the Taranaki and Wellington regions of New Zealand. Approximately 17,000 people registered their affiliation to Te Āti Awa in 2001, with about 10,000 in Taranaki, 2,000 in We ...
, Ngāi Te Rangi
Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tūhua and Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to Maketu in the east.
...
, Taranaki
Taranaki is a regions of New Zealand, region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano Mount Taranaki, Taranaki Maunga, formerly known as Mount Egmont.
The main centre is the ...
, Ngāti Ruanui
Ngāti Ruanui is a Māori people, Māori iwi traditionally based in the Taranaki Region, Taranaki region of New Zealand. In the 2006 census, 7,035 people claimed affiliation to the iwi. However, most members now live outside the rohe, traditional ...
, Ngāti Hauā
Ngāti Hauā is a Māori iwi of the eastern Waikato of New Zealand. It is part of the Tainui confederation. Its traditional area includes Matamata, Cambridge, Maungakawa, the Horotiu district along the Waikato River and the Maungatautari ...
) and European descent.
Further reading
*'Land of My Ancestors – Darcy Nicholas Artist', documentary film, 2007nzonscreen.com
Darcy Nicholas' website
References
Living people 1945 births Te Āti Awa people Ngāti Ruanui people New Zealand police officers New Zealand Māori artists Companions of the Queen's Service Order Ngāi Te Rangi people Taranaki (iwi) People from Waitara, New Zealand 20th-century New Zealand sculptors 20th-century New Zealand male artists 21st-century New Zealand sculptors People educated at Waitara High School {{NewZealand-artist-stub