Trenton Doyle Hancock
Rememor with Membry
2001
Not on view
Date
2001
Classification
Paintings
Medium
Acrylic on collaged canvas
Dimensions
Overall: 59 7/8 × 72 1/4in. (152.1 × 183.5 cm)
Accession number
2001.229
Credit line
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Contemporary Painting and Sculpture Committee
Rights and reproductions
© Trenton Doyle Hancock
Trenton Doyle Hancock’s work is based on a personal mythology of epic dimensions. Key characters in Hancock’s narrative are half-animal, half-plant beings that he calls "mounds." The original forest-dwelling organism is Mound #1, also known as The Legend. As the story unfolds, the Mounds are attacked by a band of vicious vegan rebels. Rememor with Membry depicts the forest from The Legend’s perspective after the vegans have punctured The Legend with holes. Looking up into the trees, The Legend sees the branches, sky, and forest floor interlaced with the words "rememor with membry." This invented phrase appears to mix together the words "remember" with "memory" and serves as a eulogy for The Legend. It might be voiced by Loid, another of Hancock’s characters, whose name is derived from "lichen amyloidosis" (a discoloring skin disease). Loid plays the role of a stern, omniscient father figure who is typically incarnated in the form of such mysterious epigrams.