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As an expression of consciousness and the perception of reality, Surrealism and Abstraction become vehicles of liberation and possibility.

MARUANI 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, this new body of work marks a progression in Thomas' critique of the construction of identity, power, and popular culture in the western imagination.

As an expression of consciousness and the perception of reality, Surrealism and Abstraction become vehicles of liberation and possibility. Using these movements as a jumping off point both aesthetically and conceptually, this exhibition focuses on the relationships drawn between art history, the history of Belgium, colonialism and the history of the Congo. Through a variety of mediums, Thomas presents a visual timeline as a way to draw new connections between the history of art and conquest, and the subversion of colonialism.

Through visual layering of historical archives, art historial tropes, and references to popular culture, Thomas reveals how power relations, the struggle for independence, and the establishment of trade and popular culture have been constructed by and large in the western imagination.

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Hedendaagse kunstenaars bewandelen koloniale sporen

Middelheim Museum

7.5.2021

Op de plek waar in 1920 de Koloniale Hogeschool werd opgericht, bevinden zich vandaag zowel het Middelheimmuseum als de Universiteit Antwerpen. Honderd jaar later vormt...

Hank Willis Thomas’s Colonialism and Abstract Art

MoMA

15.9.2020

The 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...