Nicholas Carter (1969) is a New York born, digital artist that puts the zing in the zoom and the bang in the boom. Over the past years he has been living in Luxembourg, a country he loves for its bubbly, international vibe and the tranquility it emanates. He enjoys visiting nearby cities like Berlin, Paris and Oslo (to name but a few).
Arriving in Europe (Amsterdam) in the early Nineties as a fresh and creative student, he moved rapidly onto a career on TV. His alter ego Nickie Nicole became a household name when he took on the role of head juror on a famous Dutch TV competition for performance artists. Nicholas has had an early interest in art and fashion. At the age of 7 his parents sent him to take art classes at the Brooklyn Museum of Art to nurture his talents, which led to him enrolling at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City in 1987.
FIT opened him up to a world of ideas and opportunities. It’s where he learned about the creative process, how to draw live models and design apparel. FIT introduced him to creative geniuses like Norma Kamali, Calvin Klein and Christian Lacroix. He had a front row seat at their fashion shows, which frankly, blew his mind. And it wasn’t all about their fashions per se; what made an impact was their ability to make the audience dream and believe in their vision. Their use of imagery, decors and flowers on the runway, opened up his mind completely. It made him think in new ways that he couldn’t have imagined before.
In 2003 Nicholas started experimenting with digital artwork. It was a dark period in his life – his mother had just passed away and he needed an outlet to process his emotions. A friend suggested creating art on a small computer by drawing on a mouse pad with his fingers, and that’s how his signature graphic tableaux technique was born. Since then his work has been shown in multiple galleries, including So ART Gallery in Amsterdam, and he has also created live artwork on a big screen while interacting with an audience and using their input.
Fashion is still a major influence on his work. Nicholas gets inspired by fashion illustrations and by the well-dressed women that he spots on the streets. He plays with shapes and textures. He creates characters that are colorful and vibrant and he highlights their beauty. His artwork screams fabulous fun and love for life.
Nicholas has also ventured into portrait photography in which he brings all of his talents together. Sometimes his portraits are pure and simple and at other times they are crazy and over the top. Make sure to check out his wonderful series of kinked up ladies in their eighties for the latter!
Nicholas loves working together on new projects with galleries, spaces and people. Whether you are looking for fierce artwork for your home or your office - or any other place for that matter - he is looking forward to starting a conversation with you. He enjoys coming over to catch the vibe of your space and he has an in-depth knowledge of what materials (wood, plexiglass, textile) work well with his artwork.
Contact us and find out what Nicholas can do to give you that extra splash of color, vibrancy and life, and make sure to visit this site frequently for more of his art and even apparel (coming soon) featuring his graphic tableaux.
