Born in Czechoslovakia, Dokoupil emigrated to Germany in 1968, and enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Cologne in 1976. In 1979, Dokoupil co-founded the German Neo-Expressionist group 'Mülheimer Freiheit' also known as 'Die Junge Wilden'. Alongside fellow Junge Wilden such as Julian Schnabel, Hans Peter Adamski and Peter and Walter Dahn, Dokoupil sought to explore a contemporary expression for his art by using a neo-expressive, figurative style in order to override the intellectual, reduced formal language of Minimal and Conceptual Art. The group associated with Berlin art dealer Paul Maenz who organised Dokoupil's first solo exhibition in 1982. At Documenta 7, Kassel, 1982, Dokoupil attracted the attention of the art world with his 'book painting', a gigantic material painting called 'God, show me your balls', a backhanded homage to a Julian Schnabel plate painting,
One-man shows of Dokoupil's work have been hosted by the Museum Folkwang, Essen (1984), Kunstmuseum, Luzern (1985) and Museum Moderner Kunst, Palais Liechtenstein, Vienna (1997).

Dokoupil's work is held in museums around the world including Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven; Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Kunsthaus Zurich; Museum am Ostwall, Dortmund; The National Museum of Contemporary Art, Seoul; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg; Rubell Family Collection, Miami.