Darocha

Darocha was born in 1945 in Oliveira de Azeméis. He studied Painting at the School of Fine Arts in Lisbon. In 1967 he left Portugal and moved to London, and then to Toulouse later that year. He finally settled in Paris in 1970, where he studied Pathological Anthropology and began to reside and work. A versatile artist, his work is characterized by the use of different materials and techniques: painting, illustration, printmaking, and video art. Ambiguous in his message, he often relied on legends, semi-true stories, and an extraordinarily rich personal mythology. His daughter Lia Rochas-Páris speaks of her father’s “pharaonic culture” and his thirst for sharing – he was a professor of arts. Although more recognized abroad than by the Portuguese public, he frequently exhibited since 1968, including in Portugal. His last exhibition, “Ripples of Style,” 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 titled “Milky Way” was presented, with Bernardo Pinto de Almeida as the presenter. He is represented in important public and private collections. He passed away in Paris in 2016.