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A non-profit dedicated to cultural diversity in photography. |
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| EN FOCO | Photographers | |
 © Hank Willis Thomas, Smokin Joe Ain't J'mama, Unbranded: Reflections in Black from Corporate America 1968-2008 series, 1978/2006. Lightjet print, 31x30"  © Hank Willis Thomas, The Liberation of T.O.: I'm not goin' back to work for massa' in dat darned field!, Unbranded: Reflections in Black from Corporate America 1968-2008 series, 2003/2005. Lightjet print, 34x30"  © Hank Willis Thomas, Who Can Say No to a Gorgeous Brunette? Unbranded: Reflections in Black from Corporate America 1968-2008 series, 1970/2007. Lightjet print, 31x30" |
Hank Willis Thomas Born: 1976 Resides: CA and New York Heritage: African American Selected Exhibitions: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, CT The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA Education: MFA, California College of the Arts 2004 MA, California College of the Arts 2004 BFA, New York University 1998 Awards: Aperture West Book Prize Media Arts Fellowship, Rockefeller Foundation, 2007 NYFA Fellowship, New York Foundation for the Arts, 2006 Residencies: Vermont Studio Center, VT Art Omi, NY The Headlands Center for the Arts, CA Skowhegan School for Painting and Sculpture, MN Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, France Light Work, Syracuse, NY Publications: Nueva Luz, volume 13#2 (En Foco: Bronx, NY 2008) Pitch Blackness (Aperture: NY, 2008) “Unbranded: Reflections in Black from Corporate America 1968-2008 is a series of 82 images taken from magazine advertisements targeting a black audience or featuring black subjects, which I digitally manipulated and appropriated. In this project I have removed all aspects of the advertising information - text, logos, etc. - in order to reveal what’s being sold. Nothing more has been altered. I believe that in part, advertising's success rests on its ability to reinforce generalizations around race, gender and ethnicity which can be entertaining, sometimes true, and sometimes horrifying, but which at a core level are a reflection of the way a culture views itself or its aspirations. By unbranding advertisements I can literally expose what Roland Barthes refers to as 'what-goes-without-saying' in ads, and hopefully encourage viewers to look harder and think deeper about the empire of signs that have become second nature to our experience of life in the modern world.” --Nueva Luz, Volume 13#2 (2008) Website: http://www.hankwillisthomas.com |
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