New exhibition in Houston merges art and basketball into immersive, playable court

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- As the city of Houston prepares to host the Final Four, the first-ever playable basketball court art exhibition is open for viewing and playing at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Commissioned and designed by renowned Houston-based artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, CAMH COURT uniquely morphs the museum gallery's parallelogram shape into a regulation-size, immersive basketball court. It's a uniquely spirited environment merging Hancock's imaginative art with a fantasy basketball experience open to all ages.

Hancock was raised in Paris, Texas, and moved to Houston 23 years ago. He said he decided to stay because of its exciting and diverse culture.

"The museum is shaped like a parallelogram, so the court had to be built like that. Art laid on top of it makes for such an interesting experience," Hancock told ABC13. "You're going to get people coming into the museum who've never been there before and experience art in a way they've never experienced."

The museum says players can dunk from the three-point line or lose themselves in the embrace of Hancock's striped Bringback characters, which swarm from baseline to baseline.

"I create lots of different kinds of worlds and characters, and my studio is based on the idea of play. So, when I was invited to design the court I was overtaken with the idea. It's something I've never seen before," Hancock said.

His shows have continually been some of the most celebrated in the institution's almost 75-year history. His work creates new worlds for audiences to explore, and CAMH COURT offers an extension of this, welcoming audiences into a space of fantasy and play.

Guests can visit the court until April 27 but only have until April 23 to play on it. For more information visit the website for Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

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