Darcy Bruce Espie Lange (22 September 1946 – 8 August 2005) was a New Zealand artist born in

Urenui Urenui is a settlement in northern Taranaki, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 close to the shore of the North Taranaki Bight, 13 kilometres east of Waitara and 6 km south-west of Mimi. The Urenui River ...

. Lange studied at the

Elam School of Fine Arts The Elam School of Fine Arts, founded by John Edward Elam, is part of the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries at the University of Auckland. Students study degrees in fine art with an emphasis on a multidisciplinary approach. The schoo ...

(1964–1967) creating hard-edge abstract sculptures before studying at the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

in London and shifting his focus to

moving image A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and photography.

Career

Beginning in the United Kingdom in the 1970s, Lange pioneered a social documentary practice with video, filming people in working environments such as schools, factories and farms. Among this body of work, ''Work Studies in Schools'' (1976–1977) has sustained significant attention. Beginning in 1976 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, Lange videotaped a number of school lessons in action across three schools, each representing a different social class. The recordings were watched by Lange with the teachers and the students for commentary, and on occasion recorded again. Lange continued the processes in 1977 across four

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

schools. Lange returned to New Zealand in 1974, continuing his practice documenting working lives and, notably,

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

activism through the ''Maori Land Project'' (1977–1981). Working closely with photographer John Miller, Lange documented the conflict between Māori and the New Zealand government around the

Ngāti Hine Ngāti Hine is an iwi with a rohe in Northland, New Zealand. It is part of the wider Ngāpuhi iwi. Its rohe (tribal area) covers the areas of Waiomio, Kawakawa, Taumarere, Moerewa, Ruapekapeka, Motatau, Waimahae, Towai, Akeramaa, Pakara ...

Block and

Bastion Point Takaparawhau / Bastion Point is a coastal piece of land in Ōrākei, Auckland, New Zealand, overlooking the Waitematā Harbour. The area is significant in New Zealand history as the site of protests in the late 1970s by Māori against forced la ...

land cases. In 1979, Lange relocated to the Netherlands and worked with René Coelho to produce a programme for

Nederlandse Omroep Stichting The Nederlandse Omroep Stichting (; NOS ; English: Dutch Broadcasting Foundation) is one of the broadcasting organisations making up the Netherlands Public Broadcasting system. It has a special statutory obligation to make news and sports program ...

based on the ''Maori Land Project'' followed by a collaboration with the

University of Utrecht Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollme ...

titled ''The Maori Land Struggle''. He subsequently contributed to the exhibition ''The Land of the Maori'' exhibition at the

Van Abbemuseum The Van Abbemuseum () is a museum of modern and contemporary art in central Eindhoven, Netherlands, on the east bank of the Dommel River. Established in 1936, the museum is named after its founder, Henri van Abbe, who loved modern art and wanted ...

in 1980. Lange died in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in 2005 In 2006, Mercedes Vicente curated the first

retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

of Lange's work at the

Govett-Brewster Art Gallery The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery is a contemporary art museum at New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand. The gallery receives core funding from the New Plymouth District Council. Govett-Brewster is recognised internationally for contemporary art. H ...

in New Plymouth, New Zealand.

Solo exhibitions

* 2018 ''Landa Lan'': A Documentation of Darcy Lange, San Sebastián, Tabakalera * 2016 ''Darcy Lange: Enduring Time'', Tate Modern, London * 2010 ''Darcy Lange'', Camera Austria, Graz, Austria * 2010 ''Work Studies in Schools,'' Slought, Philadelphia * 2008 ''Work Studies in Schools'', Ikon Gallery, Birmingham * 2007 ''Darcy Lange: Study of an Artist at Work'', Adam Art Gallery, Wellington * 2006 ''Darcy Lange: Study of an Artist at Work'', Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth * 1999 ''The Māori Land Project'', Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland * 1977 ''A Documentation of Bradford Working Life'', Institute of Contemporary Art, London * 1977 ''Work Studies in Schools'', Museum of Modern Art, Oxford * 1971 ''Darcy Lange'', Ikon Gallery, Birmingham

Group exhibitions

*2019 The Future of Work,

The Dowse Art Museum The Dowse Art Museum is a municipal art gallery in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Opening in 1971 in the Lower Hutt CBD, The Dowse occupies a stand-alone building adjacent to other municipal facilities. The building was completely remodelled in 2 ...

, Lower Hutt, New Zealand *2003 ''A Century of Artists' Film in Britain'', Tate Britain, London * 1998 ''Action Replay: Post-Object New Zealand Art,''

Artspace Artspace may refer to: * Artspace (website), an online marketplace based in New York City * Artspace, New Haven, an art gallery in downtown New Haven, Connecticut * Artspace Mackay, Mackay, Queensland, Australia * Artspace NZ, a visual arts cent ...

, Auckland; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth; Auckland City Art Gallery, Auckland * 1992 ''Art and Organized Labour'', City Art Gallery, Wellington

Publications

* ''Darcy Lange: Study of an Artist at Work'', New Plymouth and Birmingham: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Ikon Art Gallery, 2008. * ''Darcy Lange: Video Art'', Auckland, The Department of Film, Television and Media Studies, University of Auckland, 2001.

Collections

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is New Zealand's national museum and is located in Wellington. ''Te Papa Tongarewa'' translates literally to "container of treasures" or in full "container of treasured things and people that spring fr ...

* Ngā Taonga: Sound and Vision

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Darcy 1946 births 2005 deaths Elam Art School alumni Alumni of the Royal College of Art New Zealand expatriates in England People from Taranaki 20th-century New Zealand artists New Zealand video artists 21st-century New Zealand artists