Hank Willis Thomas Bio

Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976) is a conceptual artist based in Brooklyn. He is known for incorporating recognizable symbols and imagery from American pop culture into his works to explore themes of racial identity, history, consumerism, and the media. Thomas received his BFA in 1998 from NYU and his MA/MFA from the California College of the Arts, San Francisco in 2004. He holds honorary doctorates from the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore and the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts in Portland, Maine. Thomas’ work is included in the permanent collections of many museums and galleries, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum; Whitney Museum of American Art; Brooklyn Museum; High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; and the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

Artist Statement