Nico de Oliveira

Nicolas de Oliveira

Nicolas de Oliveira is a writer and curator.

Biography

Nicolas de Oliveira is a curator and writer based in London. He was a co-founder of the Museum of Installation, London, and other independent galleries, curating over 200 works and shows. Currently, he co-directs SE8 Gallery, focusing on new projects by emerging contemporary artists. His imprint ‘Mulberry Tree Press’, begun in 2010, specializes in artists’ publications and vinyl editions. He has also published seminal books on Installation art and numerous artists’ monographs. His major exhibition ‘A Book of Burning Matches: Collecting Installation Art Documents’ was shown at Me-Collection, Berlin in 2015. It restaged historical documentation in the form of photographs, video, and sound recordings as an immersive display.

Teaching and interests

Courses

Fine Art BA (Hons)

Research

De Oliveira's research focuses on curatorial practice; in particular, it is concerned with how new critical forms and disciplines, such as Installation Art and Artists' Writing, have extended the remit of what curatorial practice is today.

Installation art has highlighted significant changes in the understanding of the idea of the 'medium', the institution and the relationship between artists, curators and audiences; the dissolution of boundaries exemplified in the move away from traditional Art History and towards Artists' Writing has led to an expansion of authorship. De Oliveira proposes that authorship is both challenged and affirmed by the collaborative process of art writing and that this also promotes new themes, iterations and voices.