Hank Willis Thomas works in sculpture, photography, mixed media, installation and video to interrogate identity, history, race and class. Thomas is known for using familiar images in advertising and popular culture to examine how such symbols commodify African American bodies and racial stereotypes. In 2016, Thomas co-founded For Freedoms, a hub for artists to use art to inspire civic participation. In 2018, its 50 State Initiative erected billboards nationwide featuring art by influential artists ahead of the midterm elections. Its collaborative Four Freedoms photo series, which reproduced Norman Rockwell’s eponymous 1942 series, featured Rosario Dawson, Dolores Huerta, Van Jones, Jesse Williams, Public Enemy’s Chuck D and other public figures to acknowledge and reflect our communities’ complex diversity. Images from the series were shared widely on social media.

“Hank Willis Thomas works in sculpture, photography, mixed media, installation and video to interrogate identity, history, race and class. Thomas is known for using familiar images in advertising and popular culture to examine how such symbols commodify African American bodies and racial stereotypes.”