About
B I O G R A P H Y
Bradley Hankey studied art at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston. Hankey is a realist painter whose current work reflects his interest in the light and landscape of Southern California. His work has been shown in galleries and museums throughout Southern California, as well as Italy, Tanzania and Costa Rica. Hankey maintains a studio in downtown Los Angeles.
Representation:
Billis Williams Gallery in Los Angeles, California
Sue Greenwood Fine Art in Laguna Beach, California
A R T I S T - S T A T E M E N T
Familiar
Los Angeles is singular in the distinct visual imagery that makes up the city. Yet, it is also ubiquitous, as the visual elements that make up the city are so deeply ingrained in the collective perception of Southern California.
This body of work references the tension between the specific and the universal, using the power of the visual language of Southern California, where recurring motifs create a sense of familiarity for locals, as well as in the imagination of society at large.
My paintings begin as a beautiful moment from my life, captured with my phone. Photography is akin to sketching for me. The paintings come together over time, with each painting consisting of many layers. The bottom layers often contain thick, opaque applications of paint, with transparent glazes making up the final layers. I spend a lot of time mixing paint, as color is one of the most important elements of my work. I use color to convey the emotions I felt when I saw the image, and the passion I feel when I paint. I think of my work as “emotional realism.”
These paintings, titled “Familiar,” speak to the beauty of the unique, and universally recognizable, landscapes of Los Angeles and Southern California.
R E S U M E
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2024 - Familiar, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, California
2021 - Waiting for the Sunrise, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, California
2021 - Electric Embrace, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2020 - Bradley Hankey: Here With Me, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, California
2019 - Watch The Sunset With Me, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2017 - Shadows of Paradise, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2016 - California Now, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2015 - California, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2014 - #instalite #losangeles, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 - The Cityscape Show, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2024 - End of the Century, Online exhibition, HyperContemporary.com
2023 - 144, Paul Scott Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona
2023 - The Cityscape Show, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2023 - Supersonic Horizons, Online exhibition, supersonicart.com
2023 - City Structures, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, California
2019 - Lauren Albrecht, curator. Lost in the Sky, 5/2018 - 8/2019. Los Angeles International Airport, Terminal 7 Gallery, Los Angeles
2019 - Works by Gallery Artists, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2019 - Laguna College of Art and Design Collector’s Choice Auction, Seven-Degrees, Laguna Beach, California
2019 - California Cool, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California. Exhibit and auction.
2018 - Group Exhibition, Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, California
2018 - Laguna College of Art and Design Collector’s Choice Auction, Seven-Degrees, Laguna Beach, California
2018 - California Cool, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California. Exhibit and auction.
2017 - Spring Fling, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2017 - California Cool, Featured Artist, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California. Exhibit and auction.
2016 - Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Palm Springs, California
2016 - California Cool, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California. Exhibit and auction.
2016 - Group Exhibition, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2015 Laguna College of Art and Design Collector’s Choice Auction, Montage Resort, Laguna Beach, California
2015 - Gallery Artists: A Work In Progress, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2015 - California Cool, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California. Exhibit and auction.
2015 - California Dreaming: An International Portrait of Southern California, Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, California, and Oceanside Art Museum, Oceanside, California
2014 - California Dreaming: An International Portrait of Southern California, Palazzo della Provincia di Frosinone, Frosinone, Italy
2014 - Summer, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2014 - Palette to Palate, Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California. Exhibit and auction with work by ten artists.
2013 - Still Summer, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2013 - Summertime, Skidmore Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2011 - The Lights of Los Angeles, One Cog Gallery, Los Angeles
2010 - Weho@25, Temporary Space, West Hollywood, California. Juried by Howard N. Fox, Curator Emeritus of Contemporary Art, LACMA
2008 - Faces and Places, Gallery Sister Sorel, Boston, Massachusetts
2007 - Art in Embassies, United States Embassy, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
2007 - Paint, LynnArts - Time Warner Gallery, Lynn, Massachusetts
2007 - Open Studios, The Julia and David White Artist's Colony, Costa Rica
COLLECTIONS
Hilbert Museum of California Art, Chapman University
RESIDENCIES
2018 - Warm Heart Art, Tanzania (one month)
2009 - Conceptos Artisticos, Costa Rica (one month)
2007 - The Julia and David White Artist's Colony, Costa Rica (one month)
EDUCATION
2007 - Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, Massachusetts. Degree: Bachelor of Fine Art, Painting
2002 - Lane Community College, Eugene, Oregon. Studied art and environmental issues
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2022 - Nicole Borgenicht. Five To Watch: Bradley Hankey, Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine, Volume 19, Issue 5, October 2022, pg. 59
2019 - Shana Nys Dambrot. Meet an Artist Monday: Bradley Hankey, LA Weekly, December 2019, https://www.laweekly.com/meet-an-artist-monday-bradley-hankey/
2014 - California Dreaming: An International Portrait of Southern California, Exhibition catalog, pg. 27, published by Oceanside Museum of Art
2011 - Studio Visit, Volume Sixteen, Boston. Publisher: The Open Studio Press / Steven T. Zevitas. pg. 78-79
2008 - Art In Ebassies, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Exhibition catalog, cover credit and essay, pg. 4-5, published by the U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.