Trenton Doyle Hancock’s Flower Bed II: A Prelude to Damnation, 2008 — a limited edition 10-color screen printed wallpaper with fluorescent inks was a highlight of Ink Miami. Hancock’s work delightfully contains imagery and text depicting part of his continuing narrative: “The Great Mound Massacre,” the violent murder of several hundred baby mounds by their half brother and sister, ape man and woman, Brouthescam and Cromalyna.
Hancock was represented at the fair by GRAPHICSTUDIOS | Institute for Research in Art — a university-based atelier engaged in a unique experiment in art and education, committed to research and the application of traditional and new techniques for the production of limited edition prints and sculpture multiples. Graphicstudio with the Contemporary Art Museum and the Public Art Program form the Institute for Research in Art in the College of The Arts at the University of South Florida.
From PBS.org:
Trenton Doyle Hancock was born in 1974 in Oklahoma City, OK. Raised in Paris, Texas, Hancock earned his BFA from Texas A&M University, Commerce and his MFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia. Hancock’s prints, drawings, and collaged felt paintings work together to tell the story of the Mounds—a group of mythical creatures that are the tragic protagonists of the artist’s unfolding narrative. Each new work by Hancock is a contribution to the saga of the Mounds, portraying the birth, life, death, afterlife, and even dream states of these half-animal, half-plant creatures. Influenced by the history of painting, especially Abstract Expressionism, Hancock transforms traditionally formal decisions—such as the use of color, language, and pattern—into opportunities to create new characters, develop sub-plots, and convey symbolic meaning. Hancock’s paintings often rework Biblical stories that the artist learned as a child from his family and local church community. Balancing moral dilemmas with wit and a musical sense of language and color, Hancock’s works create a painterly space of psychological dimension. Trenton Doyle Hancock was featured in the 2000 and 2002 Whitney Biennial exhibitions, becoming one of the youngest artist in history to participate in this prestigious survey. His work has been the subject of one-person exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. The recipient of numerous awards, Hancock lives and works in Houston where he was a 2002 Core Artist in Residence at the Glassell School of Art of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
For more information about Trenton Doyle Hancock:
James Cohan Gallery, New York | Dunn & Brown Contemporary, Dallas
Image: ©kHyal™ 2010.
