Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976, New Jersey, USA) is a conceptual artist based in New York. Thomas’s body of work tackles issues on identity, politics, popular culture, and mass media, which aims to construct dialogues around the exploitation and the objectification of African American images. Thomas explores the representation of the black body in media and supplies historical and cultural context to draw parallels between the past and present and “remind viewers of how dominant cultural tropes continue to shape notions of race and race relations.” His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad including the International Center of Photography, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Musée du quai Branly, Hong Kong Arts Centre and the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art.
