Stephen Hannock

Place: Ashfield

Born: 1951

Biography:

Stephen Hannock is an American artist known for his unique luminosity technique, which involves building up layers of paint on the canvas, sandpaper-polishing it, applying new layers of paint and polishing again. Some of his work is thought to be inspired by the Hudson River School. Hannock's early life and education were marked by his time at Deerfield Academy, Bowdoin College, and Smith College, as well as his apprenticeship with sculptor and printmaker Leonard Baskin. Hannock's early career was characterized by his experimentation with phosphorescent paints and his first museum shows at the Smith College Museum of Art and the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts. In 1984, Hannock moved to New York City, where he relied on grants from patron Irene Mennen Hunter and odd jobs to pay for studio space and groceries. Hannock's work has been featured in Newsweek and he has created art for the interiors of restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern and Colicchio and Sons. In 1999, Hannock, along with the rest of the film's technical crew, won an Academy Award for 'Special Visual Effects' for the film, What Dreams May Come.