Hank Willis Thomas

HANK WILLIS THOMAS (b. 1976, Plainfield, NJ; lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture.

Hank Willis Thomas, Black Power, Fotografie, 2008, 67 x 105 x 5 cm
Hank Willis Thomas:…and only the people, solo show 2014

Artist Bio

HANK WILLIS THOMAS (b. 1976, Plainfield, NJ; lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, identity, commodity, media, and popular culture.

Exhibitions

SELECTED SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Hank Willis Thomas in conversation with Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, solo show …AND ONLY THE PEOPLE, Springmann 2014

2020

All Things Being Equal…, Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, Bentonville, AK An All Colored Cast, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles, CA

2019

All Things Being Equal…, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR Exodusters, Gordon Parks Foundation, Pleasantville, NY Donnez Votre Main, Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium Hank Willis Thomas: unbranded, Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, Birmingham, AL Hank Willis Thomas: Unbranded, ICA Miami, Miami, FL

2018

What We Ask Is Simple, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY Black Survival Guide, or How to Live Through a Police Riot, Delaware Art Museum, Wilmington, DE Unbranded, The Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL Unbranded/Branded, The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL My Life Is Ours, Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong, China

2017

The Beautiful Game, Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, UK Freedom Isn’t always Beautiful and Blind Memory, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915 – 2015, York College Galleries, York, PA

2016
– „To Whom It May Concern“ Jablonka Maruani Mercier Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
– „Evidence of Things Not Seen“, Kadist, San Francisco, CA
– „Hank Willis Thomas: I Am A Man“, New City Arts Initiative, Charlottesville, VA
– „Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915-2015, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC

2015
– „Primary Sources“, David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island
– „The Truth is I See You“, Metrotech, Brooklyn, New York
– „In The Box: Hank Willis Thomas“, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia
– „Unbranded: A Century of White Women 1915-2015, Jack Shainmain Gallery, New York NY

2014
– „…and only the people“, Galerie Henrik Springmann, Berlin, Germany
– „History Doesn’t Laugh“, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
– „Question Bridge Black Males“, DuSable Museum of African American History, Chicago, IL

2013
– „Hank Willis Thomas“, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Transformer Station, Cleveland, OH
– „Wayfarer“, Picture Windows Series, International Center of Photography, New York, NY
– „Opp. Other People’s Property“, Haverford College 2012
– „What Goes Without Saying“, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
– „Hank Willis Thomas: Believe It“, SCAD Galleries, La Galerie Pfriem, Lacoste

2011
– „Strange Fruit“, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
– „Scouring the Earth for My Affinity“, Samsøn Projects, Boston, MA

2010
– „Hank Willis Thomas“, Galerie Anne De Villepoix, Paris, France
– „All Things Being Equal…“, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa

2009
– „Hank Willis Thomas“, Annarumma 404, Milan, Italy
– „Light Text“, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, KS
– „Hank Willis Thomas“, Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
– „Digging Deeper“, in collaboration with Willie Cole, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
– „About Time“, Galway – 126, Galway, Ireland
– „Black is Beautiful“, Roberts and Tilton Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
– „Visionary Delusions“, Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto, Canada
– „Pitch Blackness“, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY

2008
– „Hank Willis Thomas“, The Fabric Workshop and Museum Storefront, Philadelphia, PA
– „Winter In America“, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA

2006
– „B®ANDED“, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
– „Unbranded“, Lisa Dent Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2005
– „Bearing Witness“, African American Museum in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

2004
– „The Trade Dress: Value Judgments“, Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Miami, FL

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2016
– „Southern Accent“, Nasher Museum of Art At Duke University, Durham, NC
– „For Freedoms“, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
– „Reality of My Surroundings: The Contemporary Collection“, Nasher Museum of Art at Duke
– „University Winter 2015: Collected Works“, The Rennie Collection at Wing Sang, Vancouver, Canada
– „Preface“, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Philadelphia, PA
– „I See Myself In You“, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
– „Us Is Them“, Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH
– „March Madness“, Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY
– „Black Pulp!“, Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
– „March Madness“, Fort Gansevoort, New York, NY
– „The Truth Is I Hear You“ (A Project by The Cause Collective), Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
– „The Color Line: African American Artist and Segregation“, Kunsthal, Rotterdam, Netherlands
– „All Power to the People: Black Panthers at 50“, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, SA
– „From Generation to Generation: Inherited Memory and Contemporary Art“, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
– „Question Bridge: Black Males“, National Museum of African American History and Culture, Washington DC and Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL

2015
– „Art For Rights“, Amnesty International, New Orleans, LA
– „Through the Eyes of Others“, The ARC, Opa Locka, FL
– „Making Africa“, A Continent of Contemporary Design, Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain
– „Winter in America“, The School – Jack Shainman Gallery, Kinderhook, NY
– „Necessary Force: Art in a Police State“, University of New Mexico Art Museum, Alburquerque, NM
– „Black Like Who?“, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
– „Aperture Photographs“, Aperture Foundation, New York, NY
– „Salon Style“, Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY

SPRINGMANN