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Fatu Feu'u
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Fatu Feu'u
Fatu Akelei Feu'u ONZM (born 1946) is a noted Samoan painter from the village of Poutasi in the district of Falealili in Samoa. He has established a reputation as the elder statesman of Pacific art in New Zealand.
Feu'u emigrated to New Zealand in 1966 after growing up in the village of Poutasi, Western Samoa. He always wanted to be an artist and noted the difference of how art was viewed between Samoa and New Zealand, with 'beautifully made, functional canoes and houses' being art in Samoa and in New Zealand art was 'something extra special not to be touched'.
Feu'u has been an exhibiting artist since the early 1980s and became a full-time artist in 1988, prior to that he worked as a designer and colour advisor for textile and car companies. He was influenced and mentored by artists Tony Fomison, Pat Hanly and Philip Clairmont.
In 1995 he became the first artist of Pacific heritage awarded the James Wallace Art Award. He was appointed an Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2001 New Year Honours. In 2022 he received the Senior Pacific Artist Award at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards. Feu'u is 'pivotal in shaping the interest in contemporary Pacific art globally and nurturing a generation of Pacific artists locally'. Artist Dagmar Dyck recalls the influence he made on her in as he invited her into a Pasfika artist community near the end of her studies in 1993 at Elam art school in Auckland.
This act of recruitment, mentorship and collectivism was typical of the early beginnings of Fatu’s vision for contemporary Pacific arts. (Dagmar Dyck)
Feu'u has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in New Zealand and internationally with works in national and private collections worldwide. He has exhibited in solo and major group exhibitions including Samoa Contemporary (2008) at Pataka Art + Museum in Porirua, and Fa'atasi (2022) at Bergman Gallery in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
Feu'u's work was included in two groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary Pacific art: Te Moemoea no Iotefa, curated by Rangihiroa Panaho for the Sarjeant Art Gallery in 1990 and Bottled Ocean curated by Jim Viviaeare, which toured New Zealand in 1994–1995.
In 2007, Marilyn Kohlhase co-founded with Bridget Marsh a pan-Pacific art gallery, Okaioceanikart, on Karangahape Road, Auckland, after an invitation from Feu'u. Okaioceanikart continued to exhibit Feu'u until it closed in 2013.
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Fatu Feu'u
Fatu Akelei Feu'u ONZM (born 1946) is a noted Samoan painter from the village of Poutasi in the district of Falealili in Samoa. He has established a reputation as the elder statesman of Pacific art in New Zealand.
Feu'u emigrated to New Zealand in 1966 after growing up in the village of Poutasi, Western Samoa. He always wanted to be an artist and noted the difference of how art was viewed between Samoa and New Zealand, with 'beautifully made, functional canoes and houses' being art in Samoa and in New Zealand art was 'something extra special not to be touched'.
Feu'u has been an exhibiting artist since the early 1980s and became a full-time artist in 1988, prior to that he worked as a designer and colour advisor for textile and car companies. He was influenced and mentored by artists Tony Fomison, Pat Hanly and Philip Clairmont.
In 1995 he became the first artist of Pacific heritage awarded the James Wallace Art Award. He was appointed an Honorary Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2001 New Year Honours. In 2022 he received the Senior Pacific Artist Award at the Creative New Zealand Arts Pasifika Awards. Feu'u is 'pivotal in shaping the interest in contemporary Pacific art globally and nurturing a generation of Pacific artists locally'. Artist Dagmar Dyck recalls the influence he made on her in as he invited her into a Pasfika artist community near the end of her studies in 1993 at Elam art school in Auckland.
This act of recruitment, mentorship and collectivism was typical of the early beginnings of Fatu’s vision for contemporary Pacific arts. (Dagmar Dyck)
Feu'u has exhibited in numerous exhibitions in New Zealand and internationally with works in national and private collections worldwide. He has exhibited in solo and major group exhibitions including Samoa Contemporary (2008) at Pataka Art + Museum in Porirua, and Fa'atasi (2022) at Bergman Gallery in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
Feu'u's work was included in two groundbreaking exhibitions of contemporary Pacific art: Te Moemoea no Iotefa, curated by Rangihiroa Panaho for the Sarjeant Art Gallery in 1990 and Bottled Ocean curated by Jim Viviaeare, which toured New Zealand in 1994–1995.
In 2007, Marilyn Kohlhase co-founded with Bridget Marsh a pan-Pacific art gallery, Okaioceanikart, on Karangahape Road, Auckland, after an invitation from Feu'u. Okaioceanikart continued to exhibit Feu'u until it closed in 2013.
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