Artist Biography
Trenton Doyle Hancock (b. 1951, Oklahoma City, United States, based in Houston, United States) constructs fantastical worlds that blend fictional and autobiographical elements. Drawing from art history, biblical stories, pop culture references and personal experiences, Hancock’s paintings, installations, drawings and animations feature a cast of imagined characters and narratives that explore universal concepts of light and dark, good and evil, power and morality.
A religious upbringing and a strong interest in comic books inspired Hancock’s early desire to build alternative universes and mythologies. One such creation is the Mounds: plant-human hybrids who are tragic protagonists engaged in constant battle against evil beings called Vegans. In many works, Hancock also employs recurring characters such as Torpedo Boy—an alter ego he imagined as a child—who acts as a protective, heroic figure for the Mounds. Presenting scenarios of moral dilemmas coated in dark humour, Hancock’s narrative unfolds in an episodic manner across exhibitions, inviting viewers to consider how hope, dreams, knowledge and community can be built and shared.
Hancock obtained his BFA from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 1997 and his MFA from Temple University, Philadelphia in 2000. His work is held in major collections including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Brooklyn Museum; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Dallas Museum of Art; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; and il Museo di arte moderna e contemporanea, Trento.
Notable solo exhibitions include Mind of the Mound (2019), Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams; The Re-Evolving Door to the Moundverse (2018), Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; EMIT (2015), Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; Mound At Large (2014), Museum of Contemporary Art, Indianapolis;
Skin & Bones (2014), Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; Fix (2011), Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln; A Better Promise (2010), Seattle Art Museum; and Moments in Mound History (2003), Cleveland Museum of Art. The artist has also participated in major international festivals including A New Landscape, A Possible Horizon (2021), San Antonio and Houston; The Best of Times, The Worst of Times (2012), 1st Kyiv Biennale; Metaphors of Unreal (2009), 2nd Animamix Biennale, Shanghai; Poetic Justice (2003), 8th Istanbul Biennial; and C’est arrivé demain (2003), 7th Lyon Biennale.
Hancock had his residency at the STPI Workshop in 2009, resulting in the exhibition A Day Ahead, A Head A Day (2010).