Darcy Nicholas - Statements on Identity

Nau mai haere mai, we are proud to announce the opening of the Exhibition 'Statements on Identity' - an exhibition featuring the artworks of leading Contemporary Maori Artist Darcy Nicholas, accompanied by Taranaki artists Maria Brockhill and Keiron Toa. All three artists are connected through whakapapa but express their identity through different mediums including painting, sculpture and carving.

Join us for a sneak peak of the exhibition during our soft opening on Thursday 20th February from 12pm onwards. The artists will be welcoming people into the gallery space throughout the day. There will be drinks and nibbles throughout the day.

Darcy Nicholas (Te Kahui Maunga and the tribes of Taranaki and Tauranga Moana areas) emerged as a prominent Maori Artist in the late 1960's, and has sold his artworks to public and private collections around the world. He is a former Fulbright recipient (1984) and has won a number of awards over the years, including; the Absolutely Creative Wellington Award (2005) for creative vision and action for Porirua City; Queens Service Order Recipient (2012) for services to Museums; and the Te Waka Toi Supreme Award (named after the late Maori Queen,Te Atairangikaahu) for his lifetime services to Maori Art, in 2013.

This exhibition will feature some of his most treasured artworks (Taranaki Woman & Hinerangi - Daughter of the Heavens) as well as some recently created works, conveying the transformations in identity that Maori have experienced over generations.

Maria Brockhill (Te Ātiawa, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāti Maniapoto) is a clay artist based in New Plymouth. She finds her inspiration in her ancestral Mountain Taranaki and the rugged land and seascapes along the north Taranaki coast. Maria exhibits her work nationally and internationally, recently taking her work to France in 2014.

The textures she puts on her clay work are made with objects found from nature and are an interpretation of contemporary Māori design; the combination of these designs with the intense coloured glazes work to translate understandings of modern Maori identity and nature.

Keiron Toa (Te Ātiawa and the tribes of Taranaki area) works with predominantly Onewa stone personally collected from the rivers of Taranaki. His passion for carving was past down by his late brother whom he spent over 20 years learning whakairo (carving) from. After 12 years in the Army, Toa has transitioned to carving full time and now works from the very same Waitara based studio that his brother did. Alongside his whanaunga, Keiron is extremely passionate about the natural resources that allow him to work with stone and what they reflect traditionally and today.

'Statements of Identity' will be in the front gallery of Kura Wellington from the 20th Feb to 31st March 2020.

Open everyday, 10 - 6pm weekdays and 11 - 5pm weekends.