Art Brokerage: (born 1969) John Holyfield is considered one of the top African-American contemporary artists. Over the past twenty years, his works have been exhibited in hundreds of galleries, featured in numerous books and adorned the walls of several television show sets.John's art has a strong southern folksy feel, capturing the essence of rural life. His main themes are family, spirituality and culture. For much of his subject matter, Holyfield draws from his family members,childhood memories and stories from his grandmothers. His grandmothers are his greatest inspirations; which explains the repetition of women in his works. John has always been captivated by the church and often depicts images related to spirituality. John also focuses on aspects such as music, heritage and traditions that set his race apaprt from others...yet his use of timeless themes make the images relative to anyone who views them. Such artists as Ernie Barnes and Norman Rockwell inspire John's style. Like Barnes, his compositions are full of movement and his characters elongated and fluid. John's images seem to capture a snap-shot of a moment. Holyfields' style of visual story-telling is inspired by Norman Rockwell.