I’m interested in finding new ways of revealing things that are kind of latent in a given image (...) I believe that all the content in my work is really about framing and context, is about calling the viewer to think about how their position affects what they see.
The photo conceptual artist, Hank Willis Thomas, is working primarily with themes related to identity, history and popular culture. Through an aesthetic lense, using a familiar language, Thomas addresses issues that are often overlooked in our pop culture-obsessed, consumerist culture.
I think images shape the world, because reality is not a fixed thing, it’s a perception, and that perception is shaped by the dominant perspective of the people of power. (...) The ways in which photography shapes these perceptions of the truth is massive, because it’s through these images that we learn and decide who is valuable, whose lives are worth preserving, celebrating, and protecting, and what is important.
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Hank Willis ThomasOut (green), 2022mixed media including decommissioned prison uniforms151.1 x 186.7 cm
59 1/2 x 73 1/2 in -
Hank Willis ThomasResistance in Black, 2021Nero Marquina Levigato marble56.3 x 11.2 x 15.3 cm
22 1/8 x 4 3/8 x 6 1/8 in -
Hank Willis ThomasEverything we see hides another thing, 2021stainless steel with mirrored finish29.2 x 44.2 cm
11 1/2 x 17 3/8 in -
Hank Willis ThomasNothing But Net, 2020basketball hoop, wooden panel, dibond, screenprinted retro208.3 x 155.6 x 68.3 cm
82 x 61 1/4 x 26 7/8 in -
Hank Willis ThomasVivid Imagination (rainbow on blue), 2019screenprint on retroreflective vinyl mounted on Dibond
unique work86.36 x 121.92 cm
34 x 48 in
Framing Dimensions: 87.8 x 123.5 x 4.5 cm -
Hank Willis ThomasAntwerp, Belgium to Boma, Congo at Dakar, 2019screenprint on retroreflective vinyl mounted on Dibond
unique work106.68 x 243.84 cm
42 x 96 in
Framing Dimensions: 109.4 x 243.8 x 4.5 cm -
Hank Willis ThomasJustice, Peace, Work (Stolen Sword Punctum), 2019polished stainless steel75 x 118 x 60 cm
29 8/16 x 46 7/16 x 23 9/16 in -
Hank Willis ThomasResistance (Leopard Man Punctum), 2019bronze56 x 15.24 x 15.24 cm
22 1/16 x 6 x 6 in -
Hank Willis ThomasWhat you see is what you see (Stella) lr, 2017quilt made out of decommissioned prison uniforms193.35 x 193.35 x 2.9 cm
76 1/16 x 76 1/16 x 1 2/16 in -
Hank Willis ThomasPolaris, 2017mirrored plexi and stained African Mahogany170.815 x 172.72 x 6.985 cm
67 1/4 x 68 x 2 3/4 in -
Hank Willis ThomasOnly women can know how it feels 1988/2015, 2015LightJet print112 x 101.6 cm
44 1/16 x 40 in
Framing Dimensions: 114 x 104 x 4.5 cm -
Hank Willis ThomasRemember me, 2014neon73 x 150 cm
28 11/16 x 59 1/16 in -
Hank Willis ThomasLightsaber (Diamond), 2013colored Plexiglass with stained African mahogany123 x 123 x 6.8 cm
67 3/4 x 67 3/4 x 2 3/4 in -
Hank Willis ThomasAnd One, 2011digital c-print101.6 x 48.26 cm
40 x 19 in
Framing Dimensions: 103.6 x 50.8 x 4.9 cm -
Hank Willis ThomasA Place to Call Home (Africa-America), 2009polished aluminum with enamel coating203 x 168 x 5 cm
79 14/16 x 66 2/16 x 1 15/16 in -
Hank Willis ThomasAfter Identity, What?, 2009aluminum letters on wood and inkjet print152.4 x 76.2 x 5 cm
60 x 30 x 1 15/16 in
Framing Dimensions: 152.4 x 76.2 x 5 cm
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Group Exhibition
Memory 21.03 - 15.04.2024 Gallery | BrusselsA cornerstone of our identities, memory is an inexhaustible departure point for artists. Art can encapsulate the essence of fleeting moments and transform the ephemeral nature of memory into a...Read more -
Curated by June Sarpong | Saatchi Gallery
Filling in the Pieces in Black 31.10 - 26.11.2023 Saatchi Gallery | London, UKThe gallery is pleased to present Filling in the Pieces in Black, a group exhibition curated by leading television broadcaster, author, and diversity advocate June Sarpong OBE, featuring works by...Read more -
Curated by June Sarpong | Brussels
Filling in the Pieces in Black 25.10.2023 - 13.01.2024 Gallery | BrusselsThe gallery is pleased to present Filling in the Pieces in Black, a group exhibition curated by leading television broadcaster, author, and diversity advocate June Sarpong OBE, featuring works by...Read more -
Group Exhibition
Body & Soul 20.06 - 27.08.2022 Gallery | BrusselsThrough the works of Nobuyoshi Araki, Francesco Clemente, David LaChapelle, McDermott and McGough, Lyle Ashton Harris, Hank Willis Thomas, Sue Williams, and the artist group Toiletpaper by Maurizio Cattelan and...Read more -
Resistance(s) 3.06 - 2.07.2021 Gallery | BrusselsAfter its success in Knokke, the exhibition Resistance will be presented in our Brussels’ gallery in a new form. While the exhibition in Knokke focused on the black color and...Read more
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Resistance 1 - 30.05.2021 Gallery | Knokke KustlaanA refined selection of paintings and sculptures celebrating the power of an inspiring and highly symbolic colour: BLACK.Read more
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Donnez votre main
Hank Willis Thomas 23.04 - 29.06.2019 Gallery | BrusselsMARUANI MERCIER Gallery is pleased to present Hank Willis Thomas’ second solo exhibition at the Brussels gallery. Well-known for his interest in the framing and context of history and perspective,...Read more -
...and the people
Carrie Mae Weems - Hank Willis Thomas 5.08 - 4.09.2017 Gallery | Knokke KustlaanMARUANI MERCIER is proud to present a group show of American artists Titus Kaphar, Carrie Mae Weems & Hank Willis Thomas. The exhibition will include new and iconic works of...Read more -
To Whom It May Concern
Hank Willis Thomas 14.04 - 22.05.2016 Gallery | Knokke KustlaanJablonka Maruani Mercier Gallery is proud to present a comprehensive selection of Hank Willis Thomas's body of work for the first time in Belgium. Hank Willis Thomas is a conceptual...Read more
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Exposition Réparatrice Chez Maruani Mercier
By Johan-Frédérik Hel-Guedj for L'Echo 27.11.2023 Read more -
The A-List: Filling in the Pieces in Black at Saatchi Gallery
Vanity Fair 23.11.2023 Read more -
New Exhibition Showcases a Journey of Artistic Diversity and Collaboration
By Andrew S. Jacobson for The Washington Informer 17.11.2023 Read more -
Lyle Ashton Harris and Hank Willis Thomas to be featured in Upcoming Guggenheim Exhibition 'Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility'
October 20, 2023 – April 7, 2024 27.7.2023 Read more -
Standing Two Stories Tall, a Hank Willis Thomas Sculpture Honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Is Unveiled on Boston Common
By Sarah Cascone for Artnet 12.1.2023In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the city of Boston has unveiled its newest monument , a Hank Willis Thomas sculpture that now...Read more -
The artist collective questioning the true meaning of justice
By Ashley Tymer for I-D MAGAZINE 17.8.2022For Freedom’s latest offering is an exhibition at The Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill, New York, titled Another Justice: US is Them. Curated by...Read more -
Introducing ARTnews’s Deciders 2022 Guest Editor: Hank Willis Thomas
ARTnews 8.12.2021Hank Willis Thomas , the guest editor of the latest Deciders issue of ARTnews, is an artist whose practice is so wide-ranging that it resists...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas: ‘The slave era is not something that is in the past’
The Guardian 1.12.2021The artist discusses his new exhibition which mixes American flags with prison uniforms to examine whether the land of the free is really free for...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas Featured in LACMA Group Exhibition 'Black American Portraits'
LACMA 7.11.2021To complement the presentation of The Obama Portraits by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald on tour from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG), LACMA presents...Read more -
Works celebrating the power of an inspiring and highly symbolic colour: Black
Mutual Art 3.6.2021Maruani Mercier presents works celebrating the power of an inspiring and highly symbolic colour: Black KNOKKE .- The perception of colours and its use has...Read more -
Hedendaagse kunstenaars bewandelen koloniale sporen
Middelheim Museum 7.5.2021Op de plek waar in 1920 de Koloniale Hogeschool werd opgericht, bevinden zich vandaag zowel het Middelheimmuseum als de Universiteit Antwerpen. Honderd jaar later vormt...Read more -
Gun violence memorial created by Hank Willis Thomas and Mass Design Group in Washington
Walpaper* 9.4.2021In Washington, DC, a poignant installation honours victims of gun violence in America According to the nonprofit research group, Gun Violence Archive, almost 40,000...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas builds a memorial to victims of gun violence at the National Building Museum
The Art Newspaper 9.4.2021The project was developed in collaboration with the Mass Design Group and gun violence prevention organisations By Gabriella Angeleti The conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas...Read more -
Congoville
Middelheim Museum 8.4.2021Both the Middelheim Museum and the University of Antwerp are situated where the Colonial College was founded in 1920. Exactly a hundred years later, this...Read more -
Off the Record
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum 2.4.2021Historical, documentary, state, and other records became the collectively accepted communicators of “truth” through their perceived objectivity and comprehensiveness. They presumably tell a story from...Read more -
Why artist Hank Willis Thomas smashed up ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’s’ General Lee
The Los Angeles Times 18.3.2021Carolina A. Miranda for The Los Angeles Times There’s been an accident. That’s what may enter your mind when you step through the front gate...Read more -
HBO Documentary "Black Art: In the Absence of Light"
HBO 4.2.2021“The American canon is not complete without it.” #BlackArtHBO , a new documentary that illuminates the contributions that Black artists have made to American culture,...Read more -
At home with artist Hank Willis Thomas
Wallpaper* 15.1.2021At home with artist Hank Willis Thomas Pei Ru Keh - Wallpaper* - 15 January 2021 In our ongoing ‘At Home With’ profile series ,...Read more -
A Racial Equity Monument, From Hank Willis Thomas, Is Set for Boston
The New York Times 14.1.2021Sophie Haigney for The New York Times - 14 January 2021 The memorial, called “The Embrace” and designed by Thomas and architects at MASS Design...Read more -
Power 100 ArtReview
4.12.2020BMW Group Culture presents the annual ranking of the most influential people in art. Discover the full list here . Source: ArtReviewRead more -
In Conversation: Hank Willis Thomas and Bomani Jones
Phillips Talks 12.11.2020Join the conversation on November 12, 2020, 5:30-6:30 pm (EST) via Zoom As a follow up to their article in Vanity Fair , Hank Willis...Read more -
This Is America | Art USA Today
Kunsthal Kade 26.9.2020On 3 November 2020, Americans go to the polls to elect their new president: either Donald Trump or Joe Biden. A pivotal moment in a...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas Asks And Answers America’s Toughest Questions About Race At Cincinnati Art Museum
Forbes 23.9.2020Chadd Todd for Forbes Every single one of Hank Willis Thomas’ searing artworks on view now at the Cincinnati Art Museum has a “ripped from...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas’s Colonialism and Abstract Art
MoMA 15.9.2020The artist reimagines Alfred H. Barr’s “Cubism and Abstract Art” diagram. by Hank Willis Thomas and Sarah Meister for MoMA Hank Willis Thomas helps us...Read more -
A Civil War Political Movement Reawakens — Complete With Capes
The New York Times 15.9.2020In 1860, the Wide Awakes mobilized against slavery and for Abraham Lincoln. A new collective is tapping into their spirit today. By Matt Dellinger for...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas on Black Survival Guide and Creative Civic Action
Hyperallergic 21.8.2020Thomas and fellow artist Ebony Brown talk about interdependence and How to Live Through a Police Riot, an archival handbook that inspired his 2018 series....Read more -
Black One Shot 12.3
ASAP Journal 6.8.2020Black One Shot stages brevity and precision in response to the art of blackness, contemporary and/or prescient. At 1000 words a pop, these pieces divest...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas sculpture “All Power to All People” stokes conversations on race
Artsatl 6.8.2020Gail O' Neill for Artsatl When Hank Willis Thomas’ 28–foot–tall, 7,000–pound sculpture All Power to All People went up on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail...Read more -
Retrospective at the Cincinnati Art Museum
MutualArt 30.7.2020The Cincinnati Art Museum is honored to present the first major retrospective of leading contemporary artist Hank Willis Thomas (American, b. 1976). Thomas’s bold, thoughtful,...Read more -
The work will not be complete in our lifetime
The Guardian 30.7.2020The artist talks about the Black Lives Matter movement, his latest timely sculpture and why it’s more important than ever for artists to use their...Read more -
History Is Waiting to Be Told
Artnet 15.7.2020‘History Is Waiting to Be Told’: Hank Willis Thomas on How Artists Can Reshape the Narrative of the United States in Real Time The artist...Read more -
Art can help the public engage in personal advocacy
The Art Newspaper 3.7.2020Art can help the public engage in personal advocacy: Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign Hilarie Sheets for The Art Newspaper The nation's...Read more -
What should our monuments of the future look like?
CNN 17.6.2020Hank Willis Thomas for CNN Monuments are critical tools in shaping the values and identity of society. Most of what we know about many ancient...Read more -
Why is African American art having a moment? The reasons are as varied as the art itself
San Fransisco Chronicle 6.6.2019Museums and collectors are taking notice. New black curators and scholars are entering the field of art. Prices are astounding. Is this the moment African...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas: Donnez Votre Main
C& 22.5.2019Maruani Mercier Gallery is pleased to present Hank Willis Thomas’ second solo exhibition at the Brussels gallery. Well-known for his interest in the framing and...Read more -
Donnez votre main
Art Agenda 16.5.2019Chloe Staed for Art Agenda Often referred to as the chocolate capital of the world, it’s said that no visit to Brussels is complete without...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas focuses on our colonial history
BRUZZ 8.5.2019Last year, the work of the American artist Hank Willis Thomas was part of an exhibition in which Bozar celebrated a retrospective but profoundly relevant...Read more -
A CONVERSATION ON ART & POLITICS at BOZAR
A conversation between Hank Willis Thomas, Christine Eyene & Patrick Gaspard- BOZAR 24.4.2019Hank Willis Thomas (b.1976, USA) often incorporates recognizable icons into his work, many from well-known advertising and branding campaigns. Thomas sees cultural disconnects everywhere in...Read more -
Imperial Bedrooms: Liz Markus' High Satire
Artslant 28.6.2017Braley Rubenstein for Artslant There was a time before trigger warnings and safe spaces when it seemed the best way of addressing hypocrisy, lies,...Read more -
Interview with Hank Willis Thomas
Mutual Art 10.4.2017Ashley Stull Meyers for Mutual Art - 10 April 2017 Hank Willis Thomas has long illuminated the histories of racialized labor, Black cultural economies, politically...Read more -
Generation to Generation: Inherited Memory and Contemporary Art
MutualArt 18.1.2017Genevieve Quick for MutualArt From Generation to Generation: Inherited Memory and Contemporary Art at the Contemporary Jewish Museum explores Marianne Hirsch’s work on “postmemory,”...Read more -
For Freedoms To Begin Residency at PS1
MutualArt 17.1.2017The Editors of ARTnews for Mutual Art A billboard created by the artist-run super PAC For Freedoms is being installed inside MoMA PS1 in...Read more -
«Paris Photo»: l’Africain-Américain Hank Willis Thomas détourne les icônes
RFI 10.11.2016Siegfried Forster for RFI - 10 November 2016 Le plus grand et prestigieux salon de photographie du monde vient d’ouvrir ce jeudi 10 novembre ses...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas’ Take on the Purpose of Photography for TIME
TIME 31.10.2016In our latest First Take series, TIME speaks with conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas about what makes a great photograph. “Whoever is holding the frame...Read more -
Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915–2015 at Weatherspoon Art Museum
Weatherspoon Art Museum 3.9.2016Hank Willis Thomas: Falk Visiting Artist In Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915–2015, artist Hank Willis Thomas reveals ways that corporate campaigns have both...Read more -
Who are the biggest contemporary black artists?
Wide Walls 29.8.2016Elena Martinique for Wide Walls Hank Willis Thomas - Exploring Advertising Generalisations A conceptual artist living and working in New York City, Hank Willis...Read more -
Issues of National Identity, Migration and Social Justice
Widewalls 13.4.2016Ana Moriary for Widewalls The Jablonka Maruani Mercier Gallery is pleased to present the Hank Willis Thomas exhibition for the first time in Belgium....Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas: Evidence of Things Not Seen
Kadist 17.3.2016Exhibition: February 24 - April 9, 2016 Borrowing its title from James Baldwin's 1985 essay on the Atlanta Child Murders of 1979-81, The Evidence of...Read more -
Hank Willis Thomas Joins Public Art Fund’s Board of Directors
Public Art Fund 12.1.2016Public Art Fund has announced the appointment of artist Hank Willis Thomas to its board of directors. Thomas, whose solo exhibition “The Truth Is I...Read more -
The truth about adverts: selling the White Woman™
The Guardian 29.4.2015Artist Hank Willis Thomas’s latest show in New York strips the copy from advertisements to expose what the images are actually selling – a very...Read more
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Art Brussels 2022
28.04 - 1.05.2022Founded in 1968, Art Brussels is one of the most renowned contemporary art fairs in Europe and a must-see in the international art calendar. This...Read more -
Art Paris 2022
6 - 10.04.2022This year, we will contribute to the fairs' theme 'Art & Environment' with four of our represented artists, who each have a strong connection with...Read more -
FIAC 2021
Online Viewing Room 20 - 25.10.2021MARUANI MERCIER proposes a selection of established Afro-American artists. Though varied in medium, their art is connected through powerful personal statements that battle historical and...Read more -
Art Paris 2021
9 - 12.09.2021MARUANI MERCIER is honoured to present a selection of artworks from young and established artists for the occasion of the 23rd edition of Art Paris...Read more
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Art Brussels Week 2021
3 - 6.06.2021For the Art Brussels WEEK, galleries will be open from Thursday 3 June through Sunday 6 June from 11am to 6pm. Our gallery is excited...Read more -
FIAC 2021
Online Viewing Room 4 - 7.03.2021It's rendez-vous online! Discover a selection of historical and new works of the gallery’s most important and internationally acclaimed artists.Read more -
Tefaf Maastricht 2020
7 - 15.03.2020Established in 1988, TEFAF is widely regarded as the world’s pre-eminent fair of art and antiques. TEFAF champions the finest quality art from across the...Read more -
ARCO Madrid 2020
20.02 - 1.03.2020ARCOmadrid is the international meeting point for exchange between Europe and Latin America. The fair enjoys the distinction of having been the first fair in...Read more
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BRAFA 2020
26.01 - 2.02.2020The Brafa Art Fair, created in 1956, is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious art fairs, famous for the high quality fine art,...Read more -
Art Brussels 2019
25 - 28.04.2019Though it retains its youthful profile as a discovery fair, Art Brussels is one of Europe’s oldest and most established fairs, running for its 51st...Read more -
BRAFA 2019
26.01 - 3.02.2019The Brafa Art Fair, created in 1956, is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious art fairs, famous for the high quality fine art,...Read more -
AKAA 2018
9 - 11.11.2018Let’s rethink the map of the world and place Africa in its center. Then take a pencil and draw routes, across the continent, seas and...Read more
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Expo Chicago 2018
Justin Brice Guariglia - George Shaw 27 - 30.09.2018We are delighted to participate for the third consecutive year in EXPO Chicago! This year, you can find us both at Booth 120 and at...Read more -
Art Brussels 2018
19 - 22.04.2018Though it retains its youthful profile as a discovery fair, Art Brussels is one of Europe’s oldest and most established fairs, celebrating in April 2018...Read more -
ARCO Madrid 2018
21 - 25.02.2018ARCOmadrid is the international meeting point for exchange between Europe and Latin America. The fair enjoys the distinction of having been the first fair in...Read more -
BRAFA 2018
27.01 - 4.02.2018The Brafa Art Fair, created in 1956, is one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious art fairs, famous for the high quality fine art,...Read more
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EXPO Chicago 2017
Ron Gorchov 13 - 17.09.2017We are delighted to participate for the second consecutive year in EXPO Chicago. This year, you can find us both at Booth 120 and at...Read more -
Art Brussels 2017
21 - 23.04.2017 -
ARCO Madrid 2017
23 - 25.02.2017 -
Artgenève 2017
26 - 29.01.2017