Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Hancock.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Eric. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve had a connection with art going pretty far back-As a kid, doodling was a favorite pastime which over time developed into a more serious enterprise. Throughout my childhood and early teens, I was inspired by video game mags, mad magazine, discarded mags from my parents’ business, and baseball memorabilia. I was also lucky enough to have friends and cousins that dabbled pretty seriously with drawing and painting, making paintings and drawings of cowboys and Indians, baseball players, and civil war soldiers.
During summers, I would spend time in central Florida with extended family where I was exposed to a giant mosaic of the last supper. There was always a reverence and a mystery that surrounded it. The attraction had a huge reflecting pool and a strange building made especially to house the mosaic. The combination of the inscrutability of the mosaic and the gothic charm of Central Florida conjured a romance inside me that to some extent still supports the way I approach painting.
In High school, I excelled in Art classes which eventually led to majoring in Art in college. I graduated with an MFA in painting from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2008. Three cities and some years later, I ended up in Los Angeles where I show and work out of the West Adams/Jefferson Park neighborhood.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Haha, uh I guess you could say no. My painting process and style have taken a fairly uneven and windy course. I find that my appetite for making involves a fair amount of diversion and periodic denials. For the most part, I’m an abstract painter, so I have a pretty tumultuous relationship with solid form and narrative. Disavowal and low aesthetic frequency have become tropes in my process that I’ve learned to use in my favor.
Until I landed in the city of LA, I really hadn’t felt like a place resonated with my character. The art community here is super DIY and friendly. I find the entry barriers here are lower, as compared to somewhere like New York. LA is a gritty place with pockets of intense beauty. I thrive in an environment like LA that is kind of syncopated with both beauty and gloom.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Eric Hancock studio – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Basically, I exhibit and make paintings in solo and group exhibitions around LA and abroad. Major highlights include recent shows in Europe and New York and acquisitions by Major Museums. My work was recently featured in Full Blede’s Issue Five, Artifact.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I feel like my business is gradually gaining momentum in the LA market and I look forward to cultivating that.
Recently I’ve had offers to teach at the College level which is exciting. I would love to grow my presence here enough to have bi-coastal representation and to develop a secondary home base in Atlanta, where I have a family.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://erichancockpaintings.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericdwighthancock/
Image Credit:
Neon Music
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