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The role that artists play in the pursuit of social justice in a new exhibition at the Skirball

An artist in a yellow hoodie, black pants, and cap holding paintbrushes is surrounded by his vibrant canvases.
Trenton Doyle Hancock in his studio in Houston, Texas, 2024.
(
Photograph by Meridith Kohut © The New York Times
)

Don't miss Draw Them In, Paint Them Out: Trenton Doyle Hancock Confronts Philip Guston — on view now.

Organized by the Jewish Museum, New York, this exhibition presents the work of painter Philip Guston (American, b. Canada 1913–1980), the child of Jewish immigrants from Odessa (present-day Ukraine), and Trenton Doyle Hancock (American, b. 1974), a leading Black contemporary artist based in Houston, Texas, in dialogue for the first time.

The exhibition explores resonant connections between their work, which include parallel thematic explorations of the nature of evil, self-representation, otherness and art activism. Despite the difficult subject matter and at times violent imagery presented in their work, Hancock and Guston share an ability to conquer the pain and emotion of their art through humor that is both dark and undeniable, engaging with their shared embrace of the visual language of comics.