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, the 2007 recipient of the Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize from the Studio Museum in Harlem has shown in exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the 2000 and 2002 Whitney Biennials. Solo exhibitions of his work in have been mounted at the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston; the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth; the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami. He has also shown internationally at the Lyon and Istanbul Biennials. Most recently, solo exhibition Trenton Doyle Hancock: The Wayward Thinker was at the Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh in 2007 and traveled to the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam.