Nicolaevsky - Toussaint

Daniel Nicolaevsky, born in 1991 in the favela of Little Crocodile (Jacarézinho) in Rio de Janeiro, demonstrated his passion for drawing and language as forms of expression at 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 distinguished École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He had the opportunity to study alongside choreographer Emmanuelle Huynh and conceptual artist Claude Closky. An artist and performer, he explores the concepts of circulation, displacement and intimacy, creating surrealist works and situations through his creations and installations. His own body is often the vector of his research and his connection with the public. In 2017, his transdisciplinary work, combining dance, installations and drawings, earned him a semester of study at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). His final master's piece, entitled "From War to Art" and addressing the question of the underrepresentation of black individuals in the history of art, earned him the Prix des Amis des Beaux-Arts in 2019. In 2023, the film adaptation of this work was acquired by the French public collection, the Collection Saint Denis, thus cementing his position as an influential artist bridging cultural divides. He is interested in the place of marginalized people, particularly those from the African diaspora, in contemporary society, as well as in the preservation of biodiversity by listening attentively to these urgent concerns. Daniel Nicolaevsky Maria has exhibited in France at the Fiminco Foundation, the National Dance Center, in Japan at the Sogetsu Floral Arrangement School in Tokyo and at the Rio de Janeiro Museum of Art, Brazil. In 2021, he won the Crédit Agricole x Clique TV Urban Art Revelation Award and in 2022, the Dream Big Grow Fast Award. His work is present in various public and private collections.