Hank Willis Thomas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Hank Willis Thomas
Thomas in 2022
Born	1976 (age 48–49) Plainfield, New Jersey, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	California College of the Arts (MFA/MA) Tisch School of the Arts (BFA)
Movement	Conceptual art
Spouse(s)	Rujeko Hockley

Hank Willis Thomas (born in 1976) is an American artist who creates art that makes you think. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. His art often explores ideas about who we are, history, and what's popular in our culture.

Early Life and Learning

Hank Willis Thomas was born in 1976 in Plainfield, New Jersey. His dad, Hank Thomas, was a jazz musician. His mom, Deborah Willis, is an artist, photographer, and teacher.

Hank went to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He studied about museums there. He earned a degree in Photography and Africana studies from New York University in 1998. Later, he got a master's degree in Photography from the California College of the Arts in 2004. He has also received special honorary doctorates for his achievements.

Hank Willis Thomas's Art Career

Hank Willis Thomas's art has been shown all over the world. You can find his work in famous museums. These include the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

He has worked on many projects with other artists. Some of these include Question Bridge: Black Males and In Search Of The Truth (The Truth Booth). He also helped start For Freedoms, a group that encourages people to get involved in their communities.

Thomas has received several important awards for his art. These include the Guggenheim Fellowship in 2018. He is also part of the New York City Public Design Commission. This group helps make sure public art and buildings are well-designed.

Exploring Identity in Art

Thomas often explores how African-American men are shown in pictures and ads. He takes advertisements and changes them. He removes the sales message, so the image can speak for itself.

For example, in his B(r)anded Series, he looks at how brands use images of Black men. He wants people to think about what these images really mean.

He also created screenprints like And I Can't Run. These works show old photos of unfair treatment towards Black men. He prints them on special material that makes them hard to see without a camera flash. This makes you think about how past problems can be forgotten or hidden.

Public Artworks and Sculptures

Hank Willis Thomas has created many public artworks. These are art pieces that everyone can see in public places.

One of his permanent artworks is called Rise Up. It is located at The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. This piece shows statues of heads and bodies coming out of a wall. Their arms are raised, like they are giving up. This artwork makes people think about police violence in America.

In 2017, he also created Love Over Rules in San Francisco. Another piece, All Power to All People, was unveiled in Opa Locka, Florida.

In January 2023, a large sculpture called "The Embrace" was revealed in Boston. This 20-foot tall bronze sculpture honors Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. It shows their arms hugging, inspired by a famous photo of them.

Thomas has also taught art at different universities. He has given talks at places like Yale University and Princeton University.

Collaborative Art Projects

Hank Willis Thomas often works with other artists and groups. These projects aim to make people think and talk about important issues.

For Freedoms

In 2016, Hank Willis Thomas helped start For Freedoms. This group works with artists to encourage people to be active in their communities. The name comes from Norman Rockwell's famous paintings about Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. These freedoms are: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

For Freedoms creates art shows and public events. They want to encourage discussions about important community issues.

In 2018, For Freedoms launched the 50 State Initiative. This was a huge art project across all U.S. states. They put up over 150 billboards with art from many different artists.

They also created a photo campaign called Four Freedoms. They reimagined Rockwell's original paintings to show the diversity of people in America today. Many famous people were part of these new photos.

The Writing On The Wall

Hank Willis Thomas also worked with Baz Dreisinger on The Writing On The Wall (TWOTW). This is a traveling art show. It is made from over 2,000 pages of writings and art by people who are or were in prison.

TWOTW was first shown in New York City in 2019. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the art was projected onto city buildings. This included jails and courthouses.

Cause Collective

The Cause Collective is a group of artists and designers. They create art for public spaces. They want their art to start conversations about important topics.

The Long March

The Long March is an art installation at the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport. It has 27 screens showing movement and migration from Alabama's history. This includes events like the Civil War and the Selma Marches. The screens come together to form a kaleidoscope shape. This shape represents how different movements can lead to new growth.

In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth)

Thomas is also part of In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth). This is a public art project that travels around the world. The "Truth Booth" is a large, inflatable structure shaped like a speech bubble with "TRUTH" written on it.

People can go inside the booth and finish the sentence, "The truth is..." Their answers are recorded on video. The project has traveled to many countries, including Ireland, Afghanistan, and the United States. The goal is to collect many different ideas about what "truth" means.

Question Bridge: Black Males

This project is a platform for Black men to ask and answer questions. It helps men from different backgrounds connect and share their thoughts. It aims to show and redefine what it means to be a Black man in America.

Monument Lab's Citywide Public Art Exhibition

In 2017, Hank Willis Thomas created a sculpture for an art show in Philadelphia. His sculpture was called “All Power to all people”. It was an eight-foot-tall afro pick placed near Philadelphia city hall.

Discussions About His Art

Sometimes, Hank Willis Thomas's art has led to public discussions.

In some cases, there were disagreements about his use of certain photographs. Some photographers felt their work was used without proper credit or permission. Thomas explained that his approach was like "sampling" or "remixing" in music. He believes that asking for permission could limit artistic freedom.

His sculpture "The Embrace" in Boston also sparked many conversations. While it honors Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King, some people had different reactions to its appearance. The sculpture was funded by private donations and aims to inspire positive change.

Awards and Recognition

• 2023: Medal of Arts, U.S. Department of State
• 2023: Meridian Cultural Diplomacy Awards
• 2022: American Academy of Arts and Science
• 2018: Guggenheim Fellowship
• 2017: Soros Equality Fellowship
• 2007: Artadia Award

Permanent Artworks

• All Power to All People, St. Louis, Missouri. Unveiled May 25, 2024.
• Strike, Montgomery, Alabama. Unveiled March 27, 2024.
• Duality, Miami, Florida. Unveiled May 17, 2023.
• The Embrace, Boston Common, Boston, Massachusetts. Dedicated January 13, 2023.
• Unity, Brooklyn, New York. 2019.
• Raise Up, National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Montgomery, Alabama. Unveiled April 26, 2018.
• Love Over Rules, San Francisco, California. Unveiled November 9, 2017.
• All Power to All People, Opa-locka, Florida. Unveiled October 17, 2017.

Family Life

Hank Willis Thomas's mother, Deborah Willis, is a well-known art photographer and a professor. His father, also named Hank Thomas, is a jazz musician and physicist. Hank Willis Thomas is married to Rujeko Hockley, who is a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

What Inspires Hank Willis Thomas

Born in 1976, Hank Willis Thomas was amazed that just a few years before he was born, people were still fighting for basic human rights. He was inspired by the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike slogan "I am a man". He became interested in how that simple phrase could have so many meanings.

Thomas's art focuses on how things are presented and understood. He explores how history and culture are shown to us, and who decides how they are shown. He also looks at how this affects what we believe is real. He often uses photography in his work. He likes how photos can be changed, which can be a way of telling history in a new light.

He has also said that the artist Kerry James Marshall has been a big influence on his work.

Images for kids

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