Exhibitions & EventsLecture/Gallery Talk
Global Imaginaries, Individual Realities Aritst Lecture: TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Organized in conjunction with the DIA’s Shirin Neshat exhibition, GLOBAL IMAGINARIES│Individual Realities is a series of lectures that establishes a platform for artists and their communities to enter into a wider conversation about socially engaged art. The ‘imaginary’ is a sociological term which describes the unspoken understanding between individuals within a society who all agree to function within the same ethical, cultural and political frameworks. The ‘global imaginary’ is an idea that expands on this notion, describing the social networks emerging between people from all over the world, assisted by innovations in technology such as the internet. In this lecture series we turn to several prominent artists whose work focuses on the role of art within the social and political sphere and invite a socio-cultural anthropologist, a political activist and sociologist of culture to discuss the role of art in shaping the global imaginary. This program will explore the underlying notions that shape our expectations of society and consider art as a social medium to navigate the vicissitudes of our imagined narratives.
Trenton Doyle Hancock is well-known for his intricate
candy-colored prints, drawings, collaged felt paintings and site-specific
installations. Influenced equally by the history of painting as by the pulp imagery
of pop-culture, Hancock transforms traditionally formal decisions—such as the
use of color, texture, language and pattern—into opportunities to create new
characters, develop sub-plots and convey symbolic meaning. His exuberant and
subversive narratives employ a variety of cultural tropes, ranging in tone from
comic-strip superhero battles to medieval morality plays, and are influenced in
style by Hieronymus Bosch, Max Ernst, Henry Darger, Philip Guston and R. Crumb.
The resulting sprawling installations spill onto beyond the canvas edges and
onto gallery walls. Hancock’s mythology has been translated to the stage in an
original ballet, Cult of Color: Call to Color, commissioned by Ballet Austin
and created by Trenton Doyle Hancock, choreographer Stephen Mills and composer
Graham Reynolds. The ballet performances debuted in Austin in April 2008. He
created an original mural for the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, TX, as
well as a site-specific installation entitled, A Better Promise, at the Seattle
Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle, WA. The recipient of numerous
awards, Trenton Doyle Hancock lives and works in Houston.
Sponsored by Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art and The Center for the Study of Citizenship at Wayne State University.