Norberto Nicola

Norberto Nicola (São Paulo, SP, 1931 - idem, 2007)

Norberto Nicola was a tapestry maker, painter, draftsman, sculptor, and engraver. He began his training in 1954, in the drawing teacher's course at the Armando Alvares Penteado Foundation (FAAP) and at the Atelier-Abstração, run by Samson Flexor (1907-1971), in São Paulo. There, he met Jacques Douchez (1921), with whom he founded the Douchez-Nicola Tapestry Studio in 1957, active until 1980. He began producing tapestries, initially flat and later three-dimensional. He completed internships at the Aubusson Manufactory in France, among other European institutions.

In 1961, he presented a solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro (MAM/RJ). He participated in the 7th São Paulo Biennial in 1963, as well as in the 8th, 9th, 11th, and 13th editions of the event. He exhibited his works in venues such as the O.E.A. Gallery in Washington in 1973 and the National Museum of Fine Arts in Mexico. That same year, he received the tapestry award from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics (APCA). He founded the Tapestry Triennial, which had three editions in São Paulo, the first in 1976.

Around 1970, he became a collector and scholar of Brazilian feather art. He produced important exhibitions, such as Feather Art in Brazil in 1980 at the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art (MAM/SP). In the late 1990s, he began making computer-generated prints, some of which were exhibited at the Club Athletico Paulistano in São Paulo in 2000.

Critical Commentary

Nicola's tapestries use roots, leaves, earth, feathers, trees, and vines in warm, enveloping tones, in interweaving patterns that place us directly in the middle of a jungle, as if we were cutouts of it. Traditional tapestry materials are varied: wool, linen, burlap, sisal, wicker, hemp, and others. They can be braided and woven, but also loose, as if they were feathers, fur, or grass. The result is intensely tactile, sensual, and alive.

Beyond this sensorial aspect, he manages to invest his pieces with a ritualistic dimension. As critic Jacob Klintowitz states in the presentation text of an exhibition, the Brazilian artist generally believes he is more in touch with nature than others and that his mission is to rescue the country's mystical, cultural, and formal heritage. Here, this mission seems to have been accomplished.1

Crisálida, for example, from 1980, is a kind of shamanic cloak in strong colors, such as reds, yellows, and blues, shaped like large open wings, from whose edges hang various vines and loose threads. It directly reminds us of Brazilian feather art.

For this, from the 1970s onward, Nicola sought legitimacy by organizing exhibitions and studies. In the introduction to one of the exhibition catalogs, he states his desire to promote this art, but also to preserve and preserve it, sparking public interest and recording it.2 This public awareness of art is also manifested in his work on commissions, for example at the Museum of Modern Art of São Paulo (MAM/SP), and in the coordination of events, such as the Tapestry Triennial.

Notes
1 RHYTHMS AND FORMS: contemporary Brazilian art. Presentation by Abram Szajman. Text by Jacob Klintowitz. São Paulo: Social Service of Commerce - SESC/SP, 1988. 77 p., ill. color.
2 DORTA, Sonia Ferraro and NICOLA, Norberto. Aroméri: Indigenous Feather Art. São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo: Mercedes-Benz do Brasil S.A., 1986.

Solo Exhibitions

1959 - São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition at the Folhas Art Gallery
1959 - Campinas SP - Solo exhibition at the Aremar Gallery
1961 - São Paulo SP - Solo exhibition of tapestry at the Sistina Gallery
1983 - São Paulo SP - Tapestry at the São Paulo Gallery
1985 - São Paulo SP - Tapestry and Sculpture at the Saldiva Arts Space
1987 - São Paulo SP - Tapestry at the Augôsto Augusta Gallery

Group Exhibitions

1956 - São Paulo SP - 5th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia - acquisition prize
1957 - São Paulo SP - 6th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia - honorable mention
1958 - New York, USA - Ateliê Abstração of São Paulo, at Roland de Aenlle Gallery
1958 - São Paulo SP - 7th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1958 - São Paulo SP - 4th Group Guanabara Collective
1959 - São Paulo SP - 5th Group Guanabara Collective
1960 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia - grand gold medal
1961 - s.l. MG - Douchez Nicola Exhibition, at MAM/MG
1962 - São Paulo SP - 11th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1962 - São Paulo SP - Douchez - Nicola, tapestry, at Galeria Astréia
1962 - São Paulo SP - São Paulo Official Salon - gold medal
1963 - Montevideo, Uruguay - Collective, at Centro de Artes e Letras de Montevideo
1963 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Collective, at MAM/RJ
1963 - São Paulo SP - 7th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1964 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 2nd The Face and the Work, at Galeria Ibeu Copacabana
1964 - São Paulo SP - 14 Tapestries from Atelier Douchez Nicola, tapestry, at Galeria Astréia
1965 - Lima, Peru - Collective, at MAM Lima
1965 - São Paulo SP - 8th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1966 - Mexico City, Mexico - Collective, at Museo de Bellas Artes
1966 - São Paulo SP - 15th São Paulo Modern Art Salon, at Galeria Prestes Maia
1966 - São Paulo SP - Mosaics, at Galeria de Arte 4 Planetas
1967 - São Paulo SP - 9th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1969 - São Paulo SP - Woven Forms by Nicola and Douchez, tapestry, at Documenta Galeria de Arte
1970 - São Paulo SP - Nicola and Douchez, tapestry, at Galeria Bonino
1971 - São Paulo SP - 11th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1972 - São Paulo SP - Arte/Brasil/Hoje: 50 Years Later, at Galeria da Collectio
1973 - Brasília DF - Norberto Nicola and Jacques Douchez, tapestries, at Fundação Cultural do Distrito Federal
1974 - São Paulo SP - 1st Brazilian Tapestry Exhibition, at MAB/Faap - 1st prize
1975 - Brasília DF - Woven Forms, tapestry, at the Cultural Diffusion Sector Exhibition Hall
1975 - Lisbon, Portugal - Collective, at Fundação Gulbenkian
1975 - São Paulo SP - 13th São Paulo International Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1975 - São Paulo SP - Nicola and Douchez: Woven Forms, tapestry, at Documenta Galeria de Arte
1977 - Belo Horizonte MG - 5th Global Winter Salon, at Fundação Palácio das Artes
1977 - Brasília DF - 5th Global Winter Salon
1977 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - 5th Global Winter Salon, at MNBA
1977 - São Paulo SP - 5th Global Winter Salon, at MASP
1977 - Washington, USA - The Original and its Reproduction: a Melhoramentos project, at Brazilian-American Cultural Institute
1978 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Nicola and Douchez, tapestry, at Galeria Práxis
1978 - São Paulo SP - 1st Exhibition of Furniture and Unusual Objects, at Paço das Artes
1979 - São Paulo SP - 2nd Tapestry Triennial, at MAMSP - Hors Concours
1980 - Bonn, Germany - Four Brazilian Artists/Vier Brasilianische Künstler, at Kultur Forum BonnCenter
1980 - Frankfurt, Germany - Four Brazilian Artists/Vier Brasilianische Künstler, at Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst
1980 - Leverkusen, Germany - Four Brazilian Artists/Vier Brasilianische Künstler, at Erholungshaus
1980 - Lisbon, Portugal - Four Brazilian Artists, at Museu Gulbenkian da Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
1980 - Porto, Portugal - Four Brazilian Artists, at Junta Comercial
1980 - Porto, Portugal - Four Brazilian Artists/Vier Brasilianische Künstler, at Associação Comercial do Porto
1980 - s.l., Chile - Tapestry, at MNBA Chile
1980 - São Paulo SP - 1st Threads/Fabrics Exhibition, tapestry, at 25th Fenit, Parque Anhembi
1980 - Stuttgart, Germany - Four Brazilian Artists/Vier Brasilianische Künstler, at Rathaus
1981 - Osaka, Japan - Latin American Art and Japan, at National Museum of Osaka
1982 - Mexico City, Mexico - Brazilian Feather Art, at Museum of Anthropology
1982 - Penápolis SP - Invited - 5th Northwest Visual Arts Salon, at Funep, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Penápolis
1982 - Washington, USA - Brazilian Feather Art, at Smithsonian Institute
1983 - São Paulo SP - Collective, at Galeria São Paulo
1984 - São Paulo SP - Tradition and Rupture: Synthesis of Brazilian Art and Culture, at Fundação Bienal
1986 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Seven Decades of Italian Presence in Brazilian Art, at Paço Imperial
1987 - São Paulo SP - Textile Art, tapestry, at MASP
1988 - São Paulo SP - Rhythms and Forms: Contemporary Brazilian Art, at Sesc Pompéia
1989 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Rhythms and Forms: Contemporary Brazilian Art, at Charlottenborg Museum
1990 - São Paulo SP - The Multiple in the Vision of Baravelli, Marcello Nitsche, Maria Bonomi, Norberto Nicola, Peticov, and Vlavianos, at Multipla de Arte
1990 - São Paulo SP - Fruits, Flowers and Colors, at Ranulpho Galeria de Arte
1992 - São Paulo SP - Collective Yesterday/Today, at Galeria Múltipla
1994 - São Paulo SP - Brazil 20th Century Biennial, at Fundação Bienal
1998 - São Paulo SP - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, at MAMSP
1999 - Rio de Janeiro RJ - Constructive Art in Brazil: Adolpho Leirner Collection, at MAM/RJ
1999 - São Paulo SP - The 1950s and its Engagements, at Jo Slaviero Galeria de Arte