biography / bibliography
HANK WILLIS THOMAS
Born in 1976
Lives and works in New York City
EDUCATION
2004
MFA Photography California College of the Arts
2004
MA Visual Criticism California College of the Arts
1998
BFA Photography & Africana Studies New York University
SELECTED SOLO AND TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
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 Universtiy fo Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, February 8–March 10, 2013.
2012
What Goes Without Saying, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, October 18–November 19, 2012.
Strange Fruit, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut, July 15–September 30, 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.
2011–2012
Hank Willis Thomas: Strange Fruit, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., September 27, 2011–January 15, 2012.
2011
Hank Willis Thomas: Scouring the Earth for My Affinity, Samsøn Gallery, Boston, March 24–May 7, 2011.
Hank Willis Thomas: Hope and Question Bridge, John Hope Franklin Center and Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University, North Carolina, January 21–March 4, 2011. Curated Diego Cortez.
2010
Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, September 4–October 4, 2010.
Hank Willis Thomas, Galerie Anne de Villepoix, Paris, April 17–May 29, 2010.
2009–2010
Digging Deeper, in collaboration with Willie Cole, Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut, September 19, 2009–April 4, 2010.
2009
Hank Willis Thomas: Light Text, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, September 11–November 29, 2009.
Hank Willis Thomas,The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland, July 29–November 29, 2009.
Hank Willis Thomas: Beyond Appearances, Lehman College Art Gallery, Bronx, New York, October 20–November 12, 2009.
Progeny: Deborah Willis and Hank Willis Thomas, 40 Acres Art Gallery, Sacramento, California, July 11–September 5, 2009.
Hank Willis Thomas: Black is Beautiful, Roberts & Tilton, Los Angeles, California, June 13–August 1, 2009.
Hank Willis Thomas: Visionary Delusions, Georgia Scherman Projects, Toronto, May 8–June 20, 2009. Curated by Olivier Fuller.
Hank Willis Thomas: Pitch Blackness, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, March 16–April 15, 2009. (Catalogue)
Annarumma 404, Milan, Italy
Contact: Still Revolution, Georgia Scherman Gallery, Toronto, CA
2008
Winter In America: Hank Willis Thomas and Kambui Olujimi, The de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara, California, September 27–December 31, 2008.
2006
Hank Willis Thomas: Signifying Blackness, Sesnon Art Gallery, University of California at Santa Cruz, California, October 2–November 18, 2006.
Hank Willis Thomas: B®ANDED, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, March 16–April 15, 2006.
Hank Willis Thomas: Unbranded, Lisa Dent Gallery, San Francisco, California, March 3–April 8, 2006.
2005–2006
Hank Willis Thomas: Bearing Witness, African American Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 18, 2005–January 29, 2006.
2005
Family Matters, The Light Factory, Charlotte, North Carolina, May–June 2005.
Hank Willis Thomas, Oaklandish Gallery, Oakland, California, April 2005.
2004
Hank Willis Thomas, Lisa Dent Gallery, San Francisco, California, September 24–October 27, 2004.
Hank Willis Thomas: The Trade Dress: Value Judgments, Diaspora Vibe Gallery, Miami, Florida
2003
Hank Willis Thomas: After Happily Ever, Long & Pollack Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Mother to Son, Texas Women’s University, Danville, TX
Being in the Picture: Hank Willis Thomas’s Frame Series
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
30 Americans: Rubell Family Collection, Rubell Family Collection, Miami, December 3, 2008–November 28, 2009. Traveled to: North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, March 19–September 4, 2011; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., October 1, 2011–February 12, 2012; Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, Virginia, March 16–July 15, 2012; Memphis Brooks Museum, Tennessee, Spring 2013. (Catalogue; text by Franklin Sirmans)
2010–2013
Global Africa Arts Project, Museum of Art and Design, New York, November 17, 2010–May 15, 2011. Traveled to: Surroundart, Brooklyn, May 24, 2011–January 1, 2012; Reginald F. Lewis Museum, Baltimore, Maryland, January 1–June 1, 2012; High Museum, Atlanta Georgia, June 1–September 1, 2012; Seattle Art Museum, Tacoma Art Museum, and Bellevue Art Museum, Seattle Washington, November 1, 2012–February 1, 2013. Curated by Lowery Stokes Sims, Charles Bronfman, and Leslie King-Hammond. (Catalogue)
More American Photographs, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco, October 4–December 17, 2011. Traveled to: Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver, Colorado, January 12–April 14, 2012; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio, Spring 2013.
2013
eMERGING: Visual Art & Music in a Post-Hip-Hop Era, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA), Brooklyn, February 14–May 26, 2013.
Be A Man! Sumarria Lunn Gallery, London, March 3–April 19, 2013.
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.
OPP: Other People’s Property, Haverford College, January 25–March 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
Attitudes, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, September–December 2012.
Get It On The Records, Visceglia Gallery, Caldwell College, New Jersey, September 6–October 5, 2012.
Beyond Beauty, Twig Gallery, Brussels, August 6–24, 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.
Summer Group Show: Derrick Adams, Peter Aerschmann, Omar Ba, Hicham Berrada, Ninar Esber, Huang Hankang, Hank Willis Thomas, July 7–31, 2012.
Textual Attraction, Mary Ryan Gallery, June 21–July 17, 2012.
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.
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.
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.
2011–2012
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.
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.
Becoming: Photographs from the Wedge Collection, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, August 11, 2011–January 8, 2012.
2011
Posing Beauty in African America Culture, University of Southern California Fisher Museum of Art, Los Angeles, September 7–December 3, 2011.
12th Istanbul Biennial, Turkey, September 17–November 13, 2011. Curated by Adriano Pedrosa & Jens Hoffmann.
Paris Photo, Grand Palais, Paris, November 10–13, 2011.
Human Rights Conference, Ford Foundation, New York, September 12–November 11, 2011.
Mass Distractions and Cultural Decay, Mason Gross Galleries, Rutgers University, September 10–October 28, 2011.
Jersey Bounce, Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, Summit, July 29–September 25, 2011.
The Truth Is I am You, Building 110, LMCC Art Space, Governors Island, New York, August 26–September 25, 2011. Curated by Kalia Brooks.
Go Figure, Smart Museum, University of Chicago, Illinois, June 30–September 4, 2011.
Converging Voices, Transforming Dialogue: Selections from the Elliot and Kimberly Perry Collection, University Museum, Texas Southern University, Houston, May 6–August 21, 2011.
Building The Contemporary Collection: Five Years of Acquisitions, Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, March 10–August 14, 2011. Curated by Trevor Schoonmaker.
B-B-B-BAD: an exhibition with attitudes, Anna Kustera Gallery, New York, June 30–August 12, 2011.
Harlem Postcards: Matthew Day Jackson, Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Demetrius Oliver and Hank Willis Thomas, The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, March 31–June 26, 2011.
Off the Beaten Path: Violence, Women and Art: An International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Stenersen Museum, Oslo, Norway, opened June 20, 2009. Traveled to:Chicago Cultural Center, January 22–April 13, 2011.
Involuntary, Ford Project, New York, March 1–April 15, 2011. Curated by Neville Wakefield.
The February Show, Ogilvy & Mather, New York, February 17–June 30, 2011. Curated by Jun Lee and Heather Hart.
Westend, Museum on The Seam, Jerusalem, Israel. Curated by Raphie Etgar.
2009–2011
Mixed Signals: Artists Consider Masculinity in Sports, organized by Independent Curators International (ICI), New York. Traveled to: Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, February1, 2009. Traveled to: Center for Art, Design and Visual Culture, University of Maryland, Baltimore; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, Ohio; Art Gallery of Calgary, Alberta, Canada; Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, Vermont; The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. May 26–August 7, 2011; Ezra and Cecile Zilkha Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, September 9–October 23, 2011. Curated by Christopher Bedford.
2010–2011
Stargazers: Elizabeth Catlett in Conversation with 21 Contemporary Artists, Bronx Museum, New York, January 27, 2010–May 29, 2011. (Catalogue)
Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1980s to the Present (traveling exhibition), Newark Museum, New Jersey, February 2, 2011–April 28, 2011. Previously exhibited: Williams College of Art, Williamstown, MA; Art Gallery of Hamilton, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
In Context, Iziko South African National Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, November 27, 2010–March 13, 2011. Curated by Liza Essers.
Progeny Two: Deb Willis and Hank Willis Thomas + Fo Wilson and Dayo, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African American Arts + Culture, October 8, 2010–January 23, 2011.
Looking Ahead: Portraits from the Mott-Warsh Collection, Las Cruces Museum of Fine Art & Culture, Las Cruces, New Mexico, November 21, 2010–January 30, 2011. Traveled to: Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, February 11–May 8, 2011 and other venues. Curated by Camille Ann Brewer.
2010
Huckleberry Finn, Wattis Institute, San Francisco, CA
Greater New York 2010, PS1, Queens, NY
Unfixed, Center for Contemporary Art, Dordrecht, Netherlands
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
Double Exposure, Keene State College, NH
Unnatural Rubber, Biblioteca Vasconcelos, Mexico City
Art of Caring, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans
Contact Toronto Photography Festival, Canada
I Am. Amen., Austin Peay University, Clarksville, Tennessee
The Legacy of Inspired Reality, Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, Eatonville, Florida, closed August 27, 2010.
Winter Show, Goodman Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa, August 7–28, 2010.
In Other Words, Goodman Gallery, Johannesburg, South Africa, July 15–August 21, 2010.
Searching for the Heart of Black Identity and the Contemporary African American Experience, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft, Louisville, January 9–April 10, 2010.
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Baltimore Museum of Art, Maryland
Birmingham Museum of Art, Alabama
Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York
Eileen and Peter Norton Family Collection, Santa Monica, California
High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia
International Center of Photography, New York
Martin Margulies Collection, Miami
Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas
The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Nasher Museum of Art, Durham, North Carolina
Newark Museum, New Jersey
Oakland Museum, California
Orange County Museum of Art, Newport Beach, California
Rubell Family Collection, Miami
Sir Elton John Collection, Atlanta
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Studio Museum in Harlem, New York
Ulrich Museum, Wichita
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, Massachusetts
RESIDENCIES AND AWARDS
2011
W. E. B. Du Bois Institute Resident Fellowship, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
2009
Brandywine Achievement Award, Philadelphia, PA
Amistad Center for Race and Culture, Wadsworth Athenaeum
2007
Media Arts Fellowship, Renew Media (Rockefeller Foundation), New York, NY
Artadia Award, San Francisco
Artist in Residence, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, France
Artist in Residence, Headlands Center for the Arts, Sausalito, CA
2006
LEF Foundation, Supplemental Grant for Along the Way (©ause Collective)
NYFA Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY
Emerging Artists Fellow, Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City, NY
Art Omi, Omi, NY
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
2005
Artist in Residence, Light Work, Syracuse, NY
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Participant Fellowship, Skowhegan, ME
2003
Barclay Simpson Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
2002
Murphy & Cadagon Fellowship Award
2000
General Prize Winner, M.I.L.K. International Photography Competition
Graduate Merit Scholarship Award, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
1998
Creative Excellence Award, New York University Photography Department