Grant Haffner was born in California but raised in East Hampton, in the section known as Springs where Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, among others, settled in the heyday of Abstract Expressionism, and where artists continue to flock to this day. The country roads, flat landscape, and bodies of water that have surrounded Grant most of his life on the East End of Long Island have become his personal subject matter represented in bold, often neon colours that belie the tranquility of the rural scenery, emphasising the presence of utility poles and power lines along the roadways, and skewed perspectives that impose movement and depth in his compositions.  All of this he initially captures with a Polaroid picture, stopping by the roadside in his truck when a scene strikes him; based on a still photo, each painting is then developed and executed in the studio through the filter of the artist's memory of his travels through that landscape.

 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 Photographs espesially 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 Haffneris an SVA dropout. At the age of 29, 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.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS