artist list

Untitled watercolor on paper 29.5 x 22.5

Untitled watercolor on paper 4' x 3'

Artist Biography:

Buddy Folk grew up in Greenville, SC, and majored in Business Administration at Furman University where he was inspired by mentor, Charles Blackwood, to make a career of his interest in art. Primarily due to Blackwood’s encouragement, Folk decided to attend art school after Furman. He applied and was accepted at both Cooper Union and Pratt Institute but opted to focus on commercial design at Pratt. After graduation in 1956, he worked as an industrial designer for companies such as Univac Corporation and IBM, first as an employee and later on a freelance basis, while maintaining a private studio on Shelter Island for personal artistic expression.

Eventually, Folk moved to Los Angeles where he managed an art gallery. While planning a move back to New York in 1972, his father, still in Greenville, became seriously ill. Folk decided to return to Greenville to be near his father, setting up a studio where he produced silkscreen prints and paintings. He has concentrated solely on painting since his return to Greenville, developing and using techniques that have influenced many of the artists working in the area. After his father’s death, Folk decided to stay in Greenville and still lives there today.

Buddy Folk

Greenville

Buddy Folk’s work is represented at: McDunn Gallery

About the Work:

I listened to music while I painted, which sometimes influenced my art. The reason I like abstract art so much is because it relates more to music. There is nothing more abstract than music.

You can’t make up new forms. All forms are based on things that already exist, that we have already seen. I’m just giving them new meaning, seeing them from a different viewpoint. Even though my paintings are abstract, they’re still definite images, entities. They’re real, not surreal - they’re just abstract. They are suggestions of forms.