Provenance:

Purchased directly from the artist 2004

Exhibited:

Te Whare Toi, The Dowse May 2004

Latitude, Taketake Gallery, Whakatane 28 February - 29 April 2005

kelcytaratoa: myspace Christchurch Art Gallery, 23 March 2007 - 24 June 2007

Kelcy Taratoa has been hailed as one of New Zealand's most exciting young artists, bringing a new presence to New Zealand art. His work explores popular culture, personal identity and what it means to grow up as a Maori in the city. He is of Ngaiterangi and Ngati Raukawa descent. Through his work he acknowledges his disassociation from any positive sense of identification with his Māori ancestry, growing up in a detribalised typical urban New Zealand setting. The landscapes in which his self-portraits dwell are suburban and capture the debilitating sense of soullessness that may be experienced in many New Zealand cities and towns. Through his studies in Maori Visual Arts at Massey University, completed in 2005, where study of New Zealand history played an important role, he came to assertively appreciate the value of his own individual story and path. kelcytaratoa: myspace Christchurch Art Gallery