Nicola de Maria, Born Dec 6th, 1954 in Foglianise, Italy) is a founding member of the Neo-Expressionist Transavanguardia group during the late 1970s, which also included Sandro Chia, Enzo Cucchi, and Francesco Clemente.

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Nicola De Maria is an artist known for his playful abstractions painted in bright primary colors. Sometimes painted on multiple walls, De Maria's large-scale compositions challenge the space in which the painting ends and the viewer's space begins. “A true work of art should increase our vitality. And the door to succeeding in this intent is emotion, commotion,” the artist’s said of his work. “A work that does not evoke these feelings is useless, a failure.”

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Nicola De Maria describes himself as “one who writes a poem, fingers dirty with paint, while closed off in the heart’s lair are a dog and cat–painting and poetry–which duel for the triumph of art.“