Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism: Gallery Exhibition at 291 Grand St

17 September - 17 October 2020

Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism is a new suite of ink-on-paper works that comprise the second chapter of the artist’s most visionary drawing project to date. Designed as a traditional graphic novel, the intricate black and white illustrations provide a narrative master class in the characters and mythologies that have ruled Hancock’s work for the past twenty-five years.
The overarching narrative of his graphic novel places Hancock’s heroes and villains into a setting where he can speak about Americanism. Central to this chapter are Vegans, Policemen, and the artist’s own alter ego Torpedoboy. The conflict between these characters becomes a vehicle for examining the extremism and idealism that often seem inherent to American identity and cultural expression, while looking closely at the ever-evolving, attendant structures of white supremacy. At the same time, the work becomes a way to talk back to the world at large and define the primary players and structures of Hancock’s singular Moundverse.
Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism

2020, Suite of 19 framed drawings Ink on paper, Each page: 24 x 36 in / 61 x 91.4 cm
- TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK, Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism, 2020
- TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK, Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism, 2020
“Growing up, I didn’t see any confessional comics with Black protagonists. I couldn’t find any Black “slice of life” comics that were on the level of R. Crumb or Daniel Clowes, so I imagined making my own to fill this void. I’ve finally found my entry point back into the comics’ space where I’m narrating something. I’m of consequence in the story as the artist, as the author, but there’s a kind of accountability that’s different than my previous painted work. I can be held accountable, and it’s a new, vulnerable, and exciting place to be. But it’s a result of all these different steps I went through to kind of kill the work and then bring it back to life. And when it came back to life: there I was.”¹
- TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK, Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism, 2020
- TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK, Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism, 2020
On a fundamental level, this chapter explores the mechanisms of seeing—and the ways in which our sight fails us and leads us astray. The human vegans are unable to see their ossiform namesakes, the police mistake the Vegans for kindergarteners, and the proprietor of the health food emporium warmly welcomes the zombie cops who immediately plunder his establishment. Appearances can be deceiving, and truth can only be revealed through close looking and a questioning of what at first glance seems obvious. Art becomes itself a strategy of seeing—of looking at the world and laying bare its honest, ugly corners—while also finding beauty and humor.
- TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK, Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism, 2020
- TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK, Trenton Doyle Hancock Presents The Moundverse, Chapter 2: Veganism, 2020
“I can extend my autobiography into the graphic novel by exploiting the meta-aspect of the artist or the author. As the narrator within the story, I’m able to take the viewer on a trip to my studio, to the museum/gallery setting, to the comic shop, and to the toy store, allowing a window into the worlds of art making that I often occupy. I have a foot in all of these worlds. I can create the culture I want.”²
About the Artist
For almost two decades, Trenton Doyle Hancock (b. 1974, Oklahoma City, OK) has been constructing his own fantastical narrative that continues to develop and inform his prolific artistic output. Part fictional, part autobiographical, Hancock’s work pulls from his own personal experience, art historical canon, comics and superheroes, pulp fiction, and myriad pop culture references, resulting in a complex amalgamation of characters and plots possessing universal concepts of light and dark, good and evil, and all the grey in between.

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ALSO ON VIEW
TRENTON DOYLE HANCOCK: SOMETHING AMERICAN

SEP 17 - OCT 17
enter viewing room
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¹Kartalopoulos, Bill, “Trenton Doyle Hancock,” BOMB, Issue #153, Fall 2020

²Kartalopoulos, Bill, “Trenton Doyle Hancock,” BOMB, Issue #153, Fall 2020

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