Hank Willis Thomas

Hank Willis Thomas is a photo conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to race, identity, history, and popular culture. After the senseless robbery and murder of his cousin, Songha Thomas Willis in 2000, Thomas became known for B®anded and Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America 1968 – 2008, two series that reflect on advertising, race, the symbols of commodity culture, and the impact of violence in African American communities. Thomas’ work is in numerous public collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum, The Brooklyn Museum, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. His public projects are numerous and include The Truth Booth (with Cause Collective), on view at the Cranbrook Art Museum through March 19, 2017. He is a commissioner for the Public Design Commission of the City of New York, and is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery. Thomas’ 2008 monograph, Pitch Blackness, won the first-ever Aperture West Book Prize.

Supported by the Cranbrook Art Museum and the University of Michigan Museum of Art.