Impakter
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Environment
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
      • Global Leaders
      • Contributors
      • Write for Impakter
        • Republishing Content
        • Permissions and Copyright
        • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Environment
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
      • Global Leaders
      • Contributors
      • Write for Impakter
        • Republishing Content
        • Permissions and Copyright
        • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Impakter
No Result
View All Result
Home Culture Art

Hank Willis Thomas- An Intersection of Art, Race and Identity

byAmeera Khorakiwala
December 19, 2015
in Art, Culture, Design, Photography
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Hank Willis Thomas is a contemporary African-American photo-conceptual artist working primarily with themes of race, identity, history, advertising and popular culture. His work goes beyond just making art, to examining and exposing deeper divides in our culture. Thomas sees cultural disconnects everywhere in day-to-day living particularly as it relates to race. He chooses to focus and exhibit this in his work.

He has exhibited throughout the U.S. and abroad including, the International Center of Photography, Galerie Michel Rein in Paris, Studio Museum in Harlem, Galerie Henrik Springmann in Berlin, and the Baltimore Museum of Art, among others. Thomas’ work is in numerous public collections including The Museum of Modern Art New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The High Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. 

Based in New York, he is represented by the Jack Shainman Gallery.

Here are excerpts of our conversation. 

Tell me a bit about yourself. How did you first get into art and photography?

My mother is an artist, art historian and curator, I figured I might as well follow in her footsteps. (Deborah Willis)HWT05.001 Branded Head HR

In this picture: Hank Willis Thomas, Branded Head, 2003

As a multi-medium artist, would you say there is a continuous relation between your works or are they independent of one another?

All of my work is about framing a context, and the various mediums are the best ways I feel I can get this point across. I like diversity.

Could you walk us through your process? How do you go from idea to conception?

I come up with an idea randomly; I think about it for a few years, I talk to people about materials randomly. I talk to more people. It’s more like alchemy than it is physics.

 

I talk to people about materials randomly. I talk to more people. It’s more like alchemy than it is physics.

HWT11.015_a The Cotton Bowl HR

In this picture: Hank Willis Thomas, The Cotton Bowl, 2011

You explore themes of race and the male body in visual culture – could you describe to us a little about what you have discovered?

I have discovered that people will believe what you tell them about themselves if you say it in factually and paint-pretty pictures to prove it.


Related Articles: “ZARIA FORMAN – VISIAL AWARENESS” by TRINIDAD BLAY

“THE SOPHISTICATION OF STREET ART” by AMEERA KHORAKIWALA


You are surprising viewers with your work in the advertisement industry by ‘unearthing the insidious underbelly of marketing, and an industry determined to turn profit at any cost’- when did you first see this scheme and how are you trying to change it?

I first became aware of the potency of media images as a child who loved TV, movies, and commercials. I also grew up going to the Schomberg Center for Research in Black Culture and I was always aware that there were other stories not being told. I also saw this movie called, “They Live with Roddy Piper”. . . I think it influenced a lot of artists especially Shepard Fairey.

What would you say is your favorite piece of your own work and why?

The best is yet to come… 

HWT13.012 Art Imitates Ads HR

HWT15.120 Liberty (installed 2015 ImageObjects City Hall Park) HR (2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In this picture: Hank Willis Thomas, Art Imitates Ads/ Imitates Life, 2013 (L) & Liberty, 2015 (R)


Photo Credit: Hank Willis Thomas and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York

Cover Photo: Hank Willis Thomas, Are you the Right Kind of Woman for it?

Tags: advertisingAmeera KhorakiwalaartcultureHank Willis ThomasIdentityImpakterMulti-MediumNew Yorkphotographyracethingser
Previous Post

Seeing the World Through the Lens of a Photographer

Next Post

A European Patriot Act? A Preview of European Internet Security in 2016

Ameera Khorakiwala

Ameera Khorakiwala

Ameera Khorakiwala is a recent graduate of Mount Holyoke College where she majored in Art History and South Asian Studies. She loves to read, travel and find the perfect lighting for her Instagrams. A lifelong inhabitant of Bombay, India, she is particularly interested in reading and writing about Indian art, politics and history.

Related Posts

Biohacking: The Latest Health Craze, Health Hazard or Biowarfare?
Culture

Biohacking: The Latest Health Craze, Health Hazard or Biowarfare?

February 5, 2023
Coca Is Not Cocaine: The Truth Behind the Sacred South American Coca Leaf
Agriculture

Coca Is Not Cocaine: The Truth Behind the Sacred South American Coca Leaf

February 3, 2023
Framce from 2022 film, "All Quier on the Western Front"
Culture

‘All Quiet on the Western Front’: Oscar Nominee Offers a Dark yet Fresh Take on WWI

January 29, 2023
Next Post
A European Patriot Act? A Preview of European Internet Security in 2016

A European Patriot Act? A Preview of European Internet Security in 2016

Recent News

vaccinating wild animals

Vaccinating Wild Animals: Key Conservation Tool or Step Too Far? 

February 7, 2023
Clean Energy More Cost-Effective in the US Than Coal, Study Finds

Clean Energy More Cost-Effective in the US Than Coal, Study Finds

February 6, 2023
A densely packed urban area in Athens, Greece at sunset

Do We Need to Sacrifice Our 1.5 °C Goal to End Poverty?

February 6, 2023
impakter-logo-light

Impakter informs you through the eco news site and empowers your sustainable lifestyle with its eco products marketplace.

Visit here IMPAKTER ECO for your eco products needs.

Registered Office Address

32 Lots Road, London
SW10 0QJ, United Kingdom


IMPAKTER Limited

Company number: 10806931

Impakter is a publication that is identified by the following International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is the following 2515-9569 (Printed) and 2515-9577 (online – Website).


Office Hours - Monday to Friday

9.30am - 5.00pm CEST


Email

stories [at] impakter.com

About Us

  • Team
  • Contributors
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Partners

By Audience

  • Lifestyle
  • Green Finance
  • Culture
  • Society
  • Style
  • Impact

Impakter Platforms

  • Media
  • Index

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • ECO Products Shop – Try now!
  • Culture
  • Style
  • Society
  • Impact
  • Sustainability Index
  • About
    • Partners
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

Impakter.com uses cookies to enhance your experience when visiting the website and to serve you with advertisements that might interest you. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.