Hank Willis Thomas is a photo conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to identity, history and popular culture. Thomas’ monograph, Pitch Blackness, was published by Aperture. He has exhibited throughout the U.S. and abroad including, The International Center of Photography, Public Art Fund, The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Studio Museum in Harlem, Musée du quai Branly, and the Cleveland Museum of Art among others. Thomas’ work is in numerous public collections including The Museum of Modern Art New York, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Brooklyn Museum, The High Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC. Collaborative projects include Question Bridge: Black Males and In Search Of The Truth. In 2015 Thomas cofounded For Freedoms, the first artist run super PAC, which was awarded the 2017 Infinity Award for New Media and Online Platform. Thomas is a member of the Public Design Commission for the City of New York. He received a BFA in Photography and Africana studies from New York University and his MFA/MA in Photography and Visual Criticism from the California College of Arts. He also received an honorary doctorate from the Institute for Doctoral Studies in Visual Arts. Thomas is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City.
For Freedoms is the first artist-run Super PAC. The PAC was founded by photographers and artists to engage in the political process and offer more complex messages.
Question Bridge offers viewers a profound vantage point: the ability to listen in as black men simply talk to each other. “Any monolithic idea we have of who black men are is immediately defeated,” says the co-creator.