Grant Haffner was raised in the infamous art community of Springs, East
Hampton, within walking distance from the homes of Jackson Pollack and
Willem De Kooning, and the twisting roads and landscapes of the South Fork
dominate his paintings. Grant sees every passing mile of country road as a
potential painting, often pulling his 1986 Ford F150 onto the shoulder to
record the more striking scenes with a Polaroid picture. Via these Polaroid
snapshots, he is able to carefully study the angles and planar landscapes,
revealing intersections of sky and the open road. His compositions are
rendered with a bold and sometimes solarized color palette, which is
cleverly balanced to depict the speed and rhythm of the rural roadways. The
slightly exaggerated poles and power-lines are primary to these compositions
as they are utilized to exaggerate the depth of field and perspective and
the artist's absorption in the fleeting landscape of the East End of Long
Island. Haffner is committed to exploring these horizons, which appear to
extend as far as the eye can see, with no end or beginning.
Grant Haffner is an SVA drop-out. At the age of 28, he had his first solo
exhibition at Dorsch Gallery, Miami, Florida in 2008. His work is in the
Linklaters corporate collection and several prestigious private collections.
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