Hank Willis Thomas (American, born )

Timeline

1976
Born in Plainfield, New Jersey
1998
B.F.A. Photography & Africana Studies New York University
2004
M.A. Visual Criticism California College of the Arts
2004
M.F.A. Photography California College of the Arts

Exhibitions

2016–2017
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2016-2017:
Southern Accent, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, August 25, 2016 – January 8, 2017. Curated by Trevor Schoonmaker.
2015–2016
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2015-2016:
Seeing Now, 21c Museum Hotel in Durham, North Carolina, August 13, 2015 – January 2016.
Us Is Them, The Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, Ohio, September 18, 2015 – April 3, 2016.
Black Fire: A Constant State of Revolution, Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, September 11, 2015 – January 3, 2016.
On Being Black, Arnika Dawkins Gallery, October 16, 2015 – January 15, 2016.
Through the Eyes of Others, Arts and Recreation Center (The ARC), Opa-Locka, Florida, November 6 – December 11, 2015.
2015
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2015:
Hank Willis Thomas: Unbranded: A Century of White Women, 1915-2015, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, April 10 – May 23, 2015. (catalogue)
Hank Willis Thomas: Primary Sources, David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, August 29 – October 25, 2015.
In The Box: Hank Willis Thomas, Black Righteous Space, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, June 18 – October 4, 2015
Making Histories, H&R Block Artspace at the Kansas City Art Institute, Kansas City, Missouri, February 7 – April 4, 2015.
Repetition and Difference, The Jewish Museum, New York, March 13 – August 9, 2015.
Under Color of Law, The Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College, Collegeville, Pennsylvania, January 27 – May 15, 2015
An Exhibition of African American Photographers from the Daguerreian to the Digital Eras, Marshall Fine Arts Center, Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania, January 30 – April 25, 2015.
FOCUS I: IDENTIFIED, Selected Works from the Collection of Jim Sokol and Lydia Cheney, AbromsEngel Institute for the Visual Arts, University of Alabama at Birmingham, June 5 - July 25, 2015.
ReSignifications, Museo Stefano Bardini, Villa la Pietra, Fondazione Biagiotti Progetto Arte, Florence, Italy, May 30 – November 9, 2015.
Aperture: Photographs, Aperture Foundation, New York, June 29 – September 18, 2015.
Black Like Who? Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama, July 11 – November 1, 2015.
Mom & Pops, University of Chicago Arts & Public Life Initiative, Chicago, Illinois, July 17 – September 11, 2015
Necessary Force: Art in the Police State, University of New Mexico Art Museum, September 11 – December 13, 2015.
Bring in the Reality, organized by No Longer Empty at The Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York, May 13 – September 17, 2015.
Question Bridge: Black Males, Power Plant Gallery, Duke University, Durham, NC, September 8 – November 21, 2015
The Rise of Sneaker Culture, Brooklyn Museum, New York, July 10 – October 4, 2015
Any Given Sunday, Fine Arts Center Gallery, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, November – December, 2015.
2014–2015
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2014-2015:
The Archive, Pier 24 Photography, Pilara Foundation, San Francisco, June 23, 2014–June 30, 2015
Africa Now: Political Patterns. Seoul Museum of Art, Seoul, Korea, December 14, 2014 – February 15, 2015
Speaking of People: Ebony, Jet and Contemporary Art. Studio Museum Harlem, New York, November 13 – March 8, 2015.
Secondhand, Pier 24 Photography, The Embarcadero, San Francisco, August 1, 2014 – May 31, 2015.
2014
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2014:
Hank Willis Thomas: History Doesn’t Laugh, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa, February 22–March 29, 2014; traveled to Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, June 7 – 28, 2014.
Off the Wall: Bench Marks, public art installation on benches in Wicker Park/Bucktown, organized by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, September 1 – November 30, 2014
Black Eye, Concept NV, New York, May 2–24, 2014.
Warp & Woof, The Hole, New York, May 7–June 20, 2014. Curated by Toby Clarke and Kathy Grayson.
Art in Embassies, Pretoria, South Africa, May 2014.
Up Close and Personal, Fuchs Projects, Brooklyn, New York, through May 18, 2014.
If You Build It?, No Longer Empty, New York, June 25–August 10, 2014.
Mise En Scène, The School, Kinderhook, NY, August – December 2014.
Americans in New York 3, Michel Rein, Paris, October 23 – November 22, 2014.
SHAPESHIFTING: Contemporary Masculinities, The College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster, Ohio, October 14 – December 7, 2014.
Civil Rights: We have it in our power to bring the world over again, Void Patrick Street Gallery, Derry, Northern Ireland, October 25 – December 20, 2014.
In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth), Art Basel Miami Beach Public Sector, Miami, Florida, December 4 – 7, 2014.
2013–2014
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2013-2014:
Hank Willis Thomas, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio, October 20, 2013–March 9, 2014 and The Transformer Station, Cleveland, Ohio, December 14, 2013–March 8, 2014.
About Face: Contemporary Portraiture, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, August 7, 2013–January 19, 2014.
Landscape into Abstraction, Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, December 15, 2013–March 2, 2014.
Dis-semblance: Perceiving and Projecting Identity Today, 21c Cincinnati, Ohio. Traveling to: 21c Bentonville and 21c Louisville.
2013
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2013:
OPP: Other People’s Property, Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania, January 25–March 8, 2013. Curated by Kalia Brooks.
Hank Willis Thomas, The Art Museum at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, February 8– March 10, 2013.
And Question Bridge: Black Males, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, July 11–August 23, 2013
eMERGING: Visual Art & Music in a Post-Hip-Hop Era, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), Brooklyn, February 14–May 26, 2013.
How Is the World? Recent Acquisitions of Contemporary Photography, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., March 9–May 26, 2013.
Be A Man! Sumarria Lunn Gallery, London, March 14–April 19, 2013.
Dawoud Bey: Picturing People, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Florida, June 7–September 8, 2013.
United States, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, July 15–February 24, 2013. Curated by Alyson Baker, Richard Klein and Mónica Ramírez-Montagut.
2012–2013
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2012-2013:
Caribbean: Crossroads of the World, El Museo del Barrio, June 12, 2012–January 6, 2013; Queens Museum of Art, June 17, 2012–January 6, 2013; Studio Museum in Harlem, June 14, 2012–October 21, 2013.
Contemporary Memories, Amistad Center, Hartford, October 27, 2012–April 2013.
2012
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2012:
Hank Willis Thomas: Believe It, SCAD Galleries, La Galerie Pfriem, Rue Saint-Trophime, Lacoste, January 19–March 30, 2012. Traveling to: Pinnacle Gallery, Savannah, Georgia, June 8–August 24, 2012; Trois Gallery, SCAD Atlanta, Georgia, October 1–December 31, 2012.
Strange Fruit, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, July 15–September 30, 2012.
What Goes Without Saying, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, October 18–November 19, 2012.
Progeny, George Mason University, Fairfax, Virginia
Hard Targets, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art, Indiana, February 3–March 17, 2012.
CPT: Time, History and Memory, The Gallatin Galleries, New York University, February 6–24, 2012.
The Sports Show, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minnesota, February 19–May 13, 2012. (Catalogue)
Tête-à-tête, Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, March 29–May 5, 2012. Curated by Mickalene Thomas
Making History – Exhibition of Ray 2012 Fotografieprojekte Frankfurt/RheinMain, MK Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt am Main, Germany, April 20–July 8, 2012.
New York Photo Festival 2012, 56 Water Street, Brooklyn, May 7–28, 2012
Textual Attraction, Mary Ryan Gallery, June 21–July 17, 2012
Summer Group Show: Derrick Adams, Peter Aerschmann, Omar Ba, Hicham Berrada, Ninar Esber, Huang Hankang, Hank Willis Thomas, July 7–31, 2012.
tête-à-tête, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, July 12–August 24, 2012. Curated by Mickalene Thomas.
Things Beyond Our Control, Fredric Snitzer Gallery, Miami, July 14–August 13, 2012. Curated by Andrew Reed.
Beyond Beauty, Twig Gallery, Brussels, August 6–24, 2012
African American Art Since 1950: Perspectives from the David C. Driskell Center, David C. Driskell Center, University of Maryland, College Park, September 20 – December 14, 2012. Travels to: Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, February 15 – April 28, 2013; The Harvey B. Gantt Center for AfricanAmerican Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina, January 16 – June 15, 2015; Figge Art Museum, Davenport, Iowa, September 15, 2014 – January 4, 2015; Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida, March 21 – June 29, 2015.
Get It On The Records, Visceglia Gallery, Caldwell College, New Jersey, September 6–October 5, 2012.
Attitudes, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, September–December 2012.
2011–2012
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2011-2012:
Hank Willis Thomas: Strange Fruit, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., September 27, 2011– January 15, 2012.
Becoming: Photographs from the Wedge Collection, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, August 11, 2011–January 8, 2012.
En Foco/In Focus: Selected Works from the Permanent Collection, Light Work’s Robert B. Menschel Photography Gallery, Schine Student Center, Syracuse, New York, September 1, 2011–January 31, 2012.
The Bearden Project, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, November 10, 2011–March 11, 2012
Who, What, Wear: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, November 10, 2011–May 27, 2012
2011
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2011:
Strange Fruit, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
Hope, Duke University John Hope Franklin Center, Durham, NC
Scouring the Earth for My Affinity, Samsøn Projects, Boston, MA
Untitled (12th Istanbul Biennial), Istanbul, Turkey
More American Photographs, Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA
In Search of the Truth, Galway Arts Festival, Galway, Ireland
Involuntary, Neville Wakefiled, FordProjects, New York, NY
Elizabeth Catlett: Stargazers, Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY
2010
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2010:
Hank Willis Thomas, Galerie Anne De Villepoix, Paris France
All Things Being Equal…, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa
Huckleberry Finn, Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA
Greater New York 2010, PS1, Queens, NY
Unfixed, Center for Contemporary Art, Dordrecht, Netherlands
Global Africa, Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
3rd World Festival of Black Arts & Cultures, Dakar, Senegal
In Context, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa
After 1968, Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY
Houston FotoFest Biennial, Houston, TX
Hard Targets, Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH
Wildly Different Things, Blue Leaf Gallery, Dublin, Ireland
Beg, Borrow, Steal, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, FL
Posing Beauty, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
2009
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2009:
Digging Deeper, in collaboration with Willie Cole, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut
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
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
The Black Atlantic, ar/ge kunst, Bolzano, Italy
1969, PS1, New York, NY
Unnatural Rubber, The Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, PA
ICP Triennial: Dress Codes, ICP, New York, NY
New York Photo Festival, Powerhouse Arena, Brooklyn, New York
Connections, Jenkins Johnson Gallery, New York, NY, San Francisco, CA
2008
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2008:
Winter In America, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA (solo)
Untitled, in collaboration with Willie Cole, the Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
Unbranded, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York
Unchained Legacy, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA
After 1968, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
Global Africa, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
From Taboo to Icon: Africanist Turnabout, Ice Box Projects Space, Philadelphia, PA
We’re All in this together, Swarm Gallery, Oakland, CA
2007
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2007:
Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song, Von Lintel Gallery, New York
Ad | Agency, Photographic Resource Center, Boston, MA
Branded and on Display, Krannert Art Museum, Champaign, IL
MASH, The Helena, New York, NY
For the Love of the Game, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT
Keep the Change, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Brooklyn, NY
Visual Alchemy, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
Negotiating Identities in Africa and the African Diaspora, Gettysburg College, PA
Reasons to Riot, Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN
Crossing the Line, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Winter Park, FL
Taking Possession, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR
Cross Sections, 18th Street Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
2006
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2006:
Signifying Blackness, Sesnon Art Gallery, University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA (solo)
B®ANDED, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
Unbranded, Lisa Dent Gallery, San Francisco, CA
The California Biennial, The Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, CA
Kapital, Kent Gallery, New York, NY
The Black Alphabet, Zacheta National Gallery, Warsaw, POLAND
Luxury Goods, Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts, New York, NY
Metro Pictures, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami and The Moore Space, FL
Black Panther Rank and File, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Emerging Artists Fellowship Exhibition, Socrates Sculpture Park, NY
The Whole World is Rotten, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
2005
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2005:
Bearing Witness, African American Museum in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA (solo)
Family Matters, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC
Frequency, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
Day Labor, P.S.1, New York, NY
Bay Area Now 4, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Remnants, Relics, Jamaica Center for Art & Learning, New York, NY
Propeller, Steve Turner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
Recovered Views, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, CA
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, African-American Museum in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Maximum Flavor, ACA Gallery, Atlanta College of Art, Atlanta, GA
5x5, Wertz Contemporary Gallery, Atlanta, GA
The GlamMore Show Revisited, PlaySpace Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2004:
Hank Willis Thomas, Lisa Dent Gallery, San Francisco, CA (solo)
The Trade Dress: Value Judgments, Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Miami, FL
Salad Days, Artists Space, New York, NY
Jamaica Flux, Jamaica Center for Art and Learning, New York, NY
Coasticated, Punch Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2003:
After Happily Ever, Long & Pollack Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Mother to Son, Texas Women’s University, Danville, TX
Missing Person’s, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA
GenArt’s Emerge 2003, The Big House, San Francisco, CA
POPULAR tm, Works Gallery, San Jose, CA
MFA Thesis Exhibition, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
25 Under 25: American Photographers, Gulf & Western Gallery, New York, NY
Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, The Leica Gallery, New York, NY
2002
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2002:
Murphy & Cadagon Awards Exhibition, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2001
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2001:
Moments in Love, Intimacy and Kinship, Grand Central Station, New York, NY
The Legacy of Gordon Parks, Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
2000
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 2000:
Reflections In Black, Smithsonian Institution, Arts & Industries Building, Washington, DC
Fuzzy Logic, Southern Exposure Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Group Exhibition, Long & Pollack Gallery, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Oneness, The New York Ba’hai Center, New York, NY
Alumni Exhibition, Duke Ellington School for the Arts, Washington, DC
1999
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 1999:
Speak to my Heart, Smithsonian Institution, The Anacostia Museum, Washington, DC
1998
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 1998:
4i’s, Gulf & Western Gallery, Tisch School of the Arts, New York, NY
The Family, Bronfman Center for Jewish Life, New York, NY
1994
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 1994:
Images & Inspirations, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC
1993
Hank Willis Thomas Selected Exhibitions in 1993:
Student Exhibition, Smithsonian Institution, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC

Public Collections

Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD
Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA
International Center of Photography, New York, NY
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY
English (US)

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