Darocha
Portugal

Darocha

Born in 1945 in Oliveira de Azeméis. He studied Painting at the Lisbon School of Fine Arts.

 

In 1967 he left Portugal and moved to London, and still in 1967 to Toulouse. He finally settled in Paris in 1970, where he studied Pathological Anthropology and where he started to live and work. A multifaceted artist, his work is marked by the use of different materials and techniques: painting, illustration, engraving and video art. Ambiguous in his message, he often relied on legends, on half-true stories, on an extraordinarily rich personal mythology. Daughter Lia Rochas-Páris talks about her father's "pharaonic culture" and his thirst for sharing - he was an art teacher.

 

Although better known abroad than by the Portuguese public, he had exhibited frequently since 1968, including in Portugal. His last exhibition, "Ondulações de Estilo", took place a few months before his death, in June 2016 in Ovar. In September of the same year, a documentary by Joana de Bastos Rodrigues about the painter, entitled "Via Láctea", was presented, with a presentation by Bernardo Pinto de Almeida.

 

He is represented in important public and private collections. He passed away in Paris in 2016.