Nicole

An American artist with a Jamaican childhood, Nicole Folkes paints and resides in Atlanta, Ga. Her paintings illustrate the lives of African Americans from a time gone by. Jazz wails from her paintings as her voluptuous and sultry women nearly walk out of their frames. Reviewing such works as "Labrish", " Evening Swing" and "Mood Music", one is immediately transported to Harlem of the 1920's. "The Performance" brings to mind 1960's girl groups, and "Muddy Waters" takes us back to the turn of the 20th century. "I'm a history buff, and so in love with the idea that even though life was hard we (as African-Americans) still had so much to celebrate and be passionate about. We laughed...really laughed. We played...and really played...with everything serious happening around us. Life was a celebration."Passionate and poignant, her oil on canvas pieces illustrate African-American life, then and now. "Harlem Love" brings to mind the way it was, while forcing the viewer to realize that the way it is, isn't much different. We still fall in love. We still argue. We still do what we must do, and in essence, we survive.Nicole studied Studio Art at Binghamton University and at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Presently, she exhibits her work at the Lawrence Art Gallery, Brooklyn, New York and her prints can be found at various galleries across the United States. She is published by Artorg.org (formerly known as Essence Art).Past exhibitions: Rude and Bold Women, Binghamton, New York Leslie-Lohman Art Gallery, Soho, New York Stepstone Gallery, Brooklyn, New York Design Schemes Showhouse, Harlem, New York