Daniel Nicolaevsky Maria, born in 1991 in the Little Aligator (Jacarézinho) favela of Rio de Janeiro, manifested his passion for drawing and language as forms of expression from an early age. He began his studies in computer graphics at the Melies school for 3D animation in São Paulo in 2009, and in 2014, he was admitted to the prestigious National School of Fine Arts in Paris. He had the opportunity to study alongside choreographer Emmanuelle Huynh and conceptual artist Claude Closky.
As an artist and performer, he explores the concepts of circulation, displacement, and intimacy, creating surreal works and situations through his creations and installations. His own body is often the vehicle for his research and connection with the audience. In 2017, his transdisciplinary work, combining dance, installations, and drawings, earned him a semester of studies at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). His master’s thesis piece, titled "From War, to Art," addressing the issue of the underrepresentation of black individuals in art history earned him the Friends of Fine Arts Award in 2019. In 2023, the film adaptation of this work was acquired by the French Seine-Saint-Denis Collection.
He explores the social and cultural dynamics surrounding the position of marginalised communities, particularly those from the African diaspora, within contemporary structures of power and representation. In parallel, he is actively engaged in biodiversity preservation, viewing these two pressing issues as deeply interconnected in the face of today’s environmental and social challenges. Working with humble materials and reclaimed objects, he breathes new life into these forgotten elements, transforming their symbolic weight to question notions of resilience, memory, and renewal.
Daniel Nicolaevsky Maria exhibited in France at the Fiminco Foundation, at the National Center for Dance, in Japan at the Sogetsu Floral Arrangement School in Tokyo, and at the Rio de Janeiro Art Museum in Brazil. In 2021, he won the Credit Agricole x Clique TV Urban Art Revelation Prize and in 2022, the Dream Big Grow Fast Prize.
His work is present in various public and private collections.
Exhibitions
2024
Expo Favela, Paris, FR
En Circuits Courts, Centre Tignous d’Art Contemporain, Paris, FR
A Private Affair, Cloud Seven, Brussels, Belgium, BE
Open your Art - l’écho du présent, Musée Transitoire, Paris, FR
Artaïs vente de multiples, Galerie Dix9, Paris, FR
La mécanique de l’exploit, le corps à l’épreuve du sport, Musée d’art et d’histoire Paul Eluard de Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, FR
En Circuits courts, pour court-circuiter l’écosystème de l’art, Centre Tignous d’Art Contemporain Montreuil, FR
2023
PROMESSES, Galerie du Crous de Paris, Paris, FR
Allongées au lit, Théatre Paris-Villette, Paris, FR
MÉTA/SCOPE, POUSH, Aubervilliers, FR
L’Odyssée Urbaine, Fondation Fiminco, Romainville, FR
Berceau du Monde, Art-o-Rama, Marseille, FR
Art & Bagarre, La Ruche K., Marseille, FR
Multiple Art Days, Fondation Fiminco, Romainville, FR
Private Choice, éclosion de talents, Paris, FR
Artissima, Turin, IT
Dsoérdre, H Gallery, Paris, FR
Artaïs vente de multiples, Galerie Dix9, Paris, FR
Le Rêve d’Iroko, Galerie du Crous de Paris, FR
2022
Raízes do Tempo, Galeria Umida Arte, Rio de Janeiro, FR
MÉMWA VIVAN, Espace 29, Bordeaux, FR
Printemps Fleuriau, La Rochelle, FR
Horse Pill, de Crème Soleil, FR
2021
Dialogue(s), Galerie Épisodique Paris, FR
Transport Commun, Société Générale, La Défense, FR
Ninguém vai tombar a nossa bandeira, Centro Cultural da Diversidade, São Paulo, BR
Vivere Memento, GIDE, Paris, FR
L’art dans la ville, 87 Rue Richelieu, Paris, FR
2020
Natureza Adormecida, Torcy, FR
Foire Saint Sulplice: Salon de la Photographie, Paris, FR
Terre Perdue, de Bianca da Costa, Arts Déco Paris, Paris, FR
Amanhã há de ser outro dia : Demain sera un autre jour, Grandes Serres, Pantin, FR
The European Nomadic Biennial - Manifesta 13 Marseille, Marseille, FR
ThunderCage #17, Aubervilliers, FR
Erigir, No Drama, Paris, FR
2019
Lauréats Prix des Amis des Beaux-Arts, Galerie du Jour Agnès B., Paris, FR
Da Guerra à Arte, DNSAP | MFA Thesis Show, Chapelle des Petits-Augustins, Paris, FR
A Vida Enorme, de Emmanuelle Huynh, CN D,Pantin, FR
Coup de Foudre, de Nathalie Talec/Fabrice Hybert, Fondation Groupe EDF, Paris, FR
Life is old there, de Tanguy Malik Bordage/Hoël Duret, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR
SCRATCH x Éditions Cimaise, SHOWROOM 4,Paris, FR
One Thousand and One Nights, de Edith Dekyndt, CN D,Pantin, FR
2018
Ainda Dá - gestes pour un non-poème, Mains d’Oeuvres, Saint-Ouen, FR
Le chemin se fait en marchant, de Esther Ferrer, CN D, Pantin, FR
ART AS EXPERIMENT: Performing the school, Sogetsu Foundation, Tokyo, JP
Epic Fail, de Jennfer Lacey, CN D, Pantin, FR
Monumental, de Jocelyn Cottencin, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Échauffement Général, de Jocelyn Cottencin, Centre Pompidou, Paris, FR
Formation, Thalie Fondation, Bruxelles, BE
2017
Vertebral / Bardo / Box Pacific, CalArts, Los Angeles, EUA
Monumental, de Jocelyn Cottencin, CN D, Pantin, FR
Animal vu, Mal vu – Performing Species Vol. I : Gazella, Point Éphémère, Paris, FR
Entre Nós / Entre Nous - l’espace entre nous, DNAP | BA Thesis Show Beaux-Arts de Paris, Paris
2014
Chasing Light, Le Cardinal, Toulouse, FR
Avec Amour, Le Cardinal, Toulouse, FR
Fragments de Joie, Rue Bayard, Toulouse, FR
2012
Avenida Central, Museu de Arte do Rio, Rio de Janeiro, BR
Awards
2024 The ADAGP Artistic Research Time Endowment, Paris, FR
2022 Fondation Dream big and grow fast award, Paris, FR
2021 Révèle ton Talent - Art Urbain, Paris, FR
2020 Altarea, Paris, FR
Education
2020 MFA | DNSAP École des Beaux-Arts de Paris Paris, FR
Ateliers : Emmanuelle Huynh / Claude Closky
2018 CalArts - California Institute of The Arts Los Angeles, EUA
2013 Atelier Prep’Art Sud Toulouse, FR
2009 MELIES - Escola de 3D, Cinema e Animação São Paulo, BR
2008 Colégio Pedro II - Unidade Escolar Tijuca II - Sessão Informática Rio de Janeiro, BR
Residencies
2023 Fondation Fiminco, Romainville, FR
2022 6bis Fabrik, Vitry-sur-Seine, FR
2021 Festival Casa Tomada, Rio Grande do Norte, BR
2021 Oficinas, São Paulo, BR
2020 White Mountain College, Les Beaux-Arts de Marseille, Marseille, FR
2018 Art as Experiment: Performing the School, Tokyo University of the Arts, Toride, JP
Collections
2024 Municipal Contemporary Art Fund, Montreuil, France
2024 FRAC of the Pays de la Loire, Nantes, France
2023 Collection Départementale de la Seine St. Denis, France
2022 Collection d’art Société Générale, La Défense, France
2021 GIDE, Paris, France
2020 Altarea, Paris, France
2019 La Fab. la fondation d’Agnès b pour l’art contemporain, Paris, France