Stephen Sumner British, 1959

Born 1959, Blackpool, England; lives New York City

Born in 1959 in Blackpool, England, Stephen Sumner attended Blackpool College of Art and Leeds University. After graduation, he worked in London as a designer and illustrator, eventually becoming art director for the IPC magazine group in 1988. In 1994, Sumner decided to concentrate full time on painting and moved from London to New York in 1996, where he currently resides and works.

Sumner's paintings focus primarily on light and the tonal nuances of color. He expresses the ethereal quality of light and atmosphere by creating illusory and mysterious landscapes. These mirages are born in Sumner's memory and are contemplative, introspective, and deeply soulful. In his paintings, the artist "has successfully visualized and captured those waking dreams of our memory that flicker like candles only to be extinguished by the consciousness of dawn."

Stephen Sumner's paintings have been regularly exhibited in New York, including the recent solo shows at the Kenny Schachter Gallery and the Soho House. On May 18, 2006 the exhibition "Stephen Sumner: later, after" opened to wide acclaim at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art, where it was enthusiastically received by the Russian public and positively reviewed by the Moscow media.