"Every good painter paints what he is." - Jackson Pollock
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Aurence is best known for his Vietnam War and seascape paintings, but his memory paintings from his years living on a monastery in Georgia as a young child have become popular with collectors. As a young boy and teenager, Aurence also picked cotton, peaches, and worked on a cattle farm in order to help with family finances; he has documented those early years in paintings that now hang in private collections.
Today, Aurence focuses mostly on seascapes and Vietnam War paintings, occasionally turning out a rare memory painting.
Larry “Aurence” Hancock retired to the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 2006, after living on the Chattahoochee River in the Northeast Georgia Mountains for 12 years. Born in Pensacola, Florida, the son of a Navy man, he fostered a love of the water early in life, living most of his life on, or near, the water.
Aurence joined the Marines in 1965, serving as a combat door gunner on a Huey helicopter at Marble Mountain in Vietnam, where he received the Purple Heart. At Marble Mountain, a white dog, its name long lost to time, hung around the hooch. Aurence considered the dog one of his lucky charms; it would come to be the most important and expected element in his art. "Where’s White Dog?", is the first thing collectors ask when seeing one of Aurence’s paintings?
In 1994, at the insistence of his wife, a folk artist and photojournalist, Aurence picked up a brush for the first time. He was soon discovered by Linda Anderson, one of the most prestigious folk artist in the South. She encouraged him to paint his soul.
Aurence quickly found his “soul” in both the horrors of Vietnam and the tranquility of seascapes.
Anderson represented Aurence for one year; his works soon becoming popular with collectors. Today they can be found in homes and offices throughout the US, the Bahamas and Virgin Islands, as well as Italy, England, France, Japan, the UK, and Austria.
Anderson says of his work, “... Aurence paints from the gut, very real and totally honest. I love his works. They just pull me in. There is absolutely nothing contrived about his paintings.”
Aurence’s first painting included three signature items that can be found in all of his works: His now famous White Dog, a fireball (or fireballs) and a squiggly in the form of a “D”. Those who know his works, look first for White Dog. Sometimes he can be at the forefront of the painting; sometimes he is hiding. Many people say that White Dog, peering out at them, gives them a sense of protectiveness.
Aurence calls his fireballs, “Messages from Nam.” He leaves the interpretation to the viewer. The “D” is the last thing that goes into the painting, after Aurence’s signature, and is in honor of Danny Dean McGee. McGee, who played high school football with Aurence, joined the Marines with him on the “Buddy Program.” Danny was killed shortly after arriving in Vietnam.
Another icon was added to Aurence’s paintings in 2002, after he was chosen to appear in a documentary “In the Shadow of the Blade” which frequently airs on the Military Channel.
A Vietnam-era Huey helicopter was flown 10,000 miles for the filming. It landed in Aurence’s backyard where the producers asked Aurence to paint his signature items on the Huey. The Huey, known as Huey 091 for her tail number, is now on display at the Price of Freedom exhibit at the Smithsonian, where it will remain for the next 20 years.
Unlike Aurence’s other icons, the Huey is random in his paintings, but many people request the Huey in non-Vietnam commissions.
Those familiar with folk and outsider art understand the complexities that abound in what may seem, to a novice, simplistic paintings. Non-collectors enjoy the vivid colors. Someone once said that viewing Aurence's paintings is like walking into another world; a world of someone who has seen the horrors of war, yet understands the importance of peace. Indeed, to the trained eye, messages abound in all of Aurence's works.
Some people buy art because it matches the colors in their couches—others buy it because it speaks to them. Aurence's art speaks volumns; one only has to look and listen.
Aurence paints his signature items, along with the POW emblem, on Huey 091 during the filming of In the Shadow of the Blade.
The Huey is on display at the Museum of American History at the Smithsonian's Price of Freedom Exhibit.
