Trenton Doyle Hancock
Painter and Loid Struggle for Soul Control
2001
Mixed media on canvas
261.6 cm x 302.3 cm (103 in. x 119 in.)
Partial and pledged gift of Jeanne and Michael Klein, 2001

Painter and Loid Struggle for Soul Control-it's hard to imagine a more intriguing title. Who are Painter and Loid? Whose soul is at stake and why? Does this wildly pieced together, wall-bound explosion of mostly castoff materials provide answers? Trenton Doyle Hancock creates allegorical assemblages whose teeming surfaces and jumbled imagery play out the complex dramas of a unique personal mythology. This seminal work introduces viewers to Painter and Loid, superheroes who battle for the departing soul of the recently deceased Legend (the striped, mound-shaped, quasi-human character in the lower right of the composition). Painter is represented by all-embracing strokes of bright color, and Loid by the absolute starkness of the black-and-white text that insinuates itself in branchlike shapes throughout the work. Their relationship to Legend seems intimate, yet perplexing. In a work that is funny, touching, and shocking all at once, the vitality and vulnerability of these highly abstracted characters speak of the human struggle against adversity. Hancock's prolific body of work derives from a nimble imagination, highly refined technical skills, an encyclopedic knowledge of high and low art forms, and a fearless sense of materials and their presentation. A single chapter in an unfolding saga, this work offers hints of more ethical dilemmas to come.