WATTS INDEXThe canonical database of visual culture

Artists›Hank Willis Thomas

Hank Willis Thomas

1976

WA-00003639

Plainfield, NJ, USA

PhotographyPop ArtConceptual Art

Representation

None documented

Institutional Exhibitions

Works in Collection

Assets Indexed

Authority-backed Facts

Publications Referenced

90%

Profile Completeness

Cultural Positioning

Influence Graph

No influence edges encoded yet.

Authority Records (2)

WikidataQ5648502

MoMA

Selected Institutional Exhibitions

View all exhibitions →

No image

Hank Willis Thomas

Pace Gallery

2025

Field Verification (6 fields)

4 cross-verified · 2 single-source

Primary mediumWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
Birth yearWikidata + Unknown· 92%✓
BiographyWikipedia + Unknown· 88%✓
LocationArtsy + Gallery· 85%✓
NationalityWikidata + Artsy+1· 92%
DeceasedUnknown· 20%

Source Registry (5)

Jack-Shainmanhttps://www.jackshainman.com/artists
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
James-Cohanhttps://www.artsy.net/artist/hank-willis-thomas
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Galleria-Continuahttps://www.galleriacontinua.com/artists
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
Pace-Galleryhttps://www.pacegallery.com/artists/
Tier 3 · Scraped/inferred100%
MoMA bulk 2026-05-04https://www.moma.org/artists/38739
Tier 1 · Institutional92%

About

Why this artist matters now

Hank Willis Thomas creates photographs and conceptual installations that dismantle advertising imagery and consumer culture to expose embedded histories of race, identity, and representation. Working with appropriated brand materials, found photographs, and text, he transforms commercial visual language into a critical apparatus that questions how media shapes collective memory. His practice oscillates between large-scale public interventions and intimate gallery-based works, examining the visual architecture of desire and belonging in American popular culture.

Source: Jack Shainman · Trust score: 100% · Updated 2mo ago

Graph relationships

Taste overlap and adjacency

Movement

Pop Art

Medium

Photography

Related Artists

12 in graph

Institutional

Museum Collections

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Whitney Museum of American Art

Canonical record

Artworks (10)

WattsOS

Strike

2018 · Stainless steel

Overall: 32 3/4 × 32 1/4 × 7 1/4 in. (83.2 × 81.9 × 18.4 cm)

Whitney Museum of American Art

WattsOS

Four Freedoms Photographs

2018 · Four archival pigment prints

Each: 101.6 x 127 cm (40 x 50 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Strange Fruit

2011 · digital chromogenic print, Lambda

Paper: 152.4 x 72.4 cm (60 x 28 1/2 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Your Skin has the Power to Protect You

2008 · digital chromogenic print

Paper: 166.4 x 130.8 cm (65 1/2 x 51 1/2 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Kama Mama, Kama Binti (Like mother like daughter)

2008 · Chromogenic print

Image: 39 3/4 × 36 5/8 in. (101 × 93 cm) Sheet: approx. 51 15/16 × 49 3/16 in. (132 × 125 cm) Frame: 53 15/16 × 51 in. (137 × 129.5 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Slack Power

2006 · digital chromogenic print

Image: 119.4 x 87 cm (47 x 34 1/4 in.); Framed: 143.4 x 111 cm (56 7/16 x 43 11/16 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Smokin' Joe Ain't J'Mama

2006 · Chromogenic print

Image: 42 1/8 × 39 3/4 in. (107 × 101 cm) Sheet: approx. 51 9/16 × 49 3/16 in. (131 × 125 cm) Frame: 52 15/16 × 50 13/16 in. (134.5 × 129 cm)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

WattsOS

Winter in America

2005 · video; 4:05 minutes, accompanied by photograph and book

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Scarred Chest

2004 · digital chromogenic print, Lambda

Paper: 152.4 x 101.6 cm (60 x 40 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

WattsOS

Absolut Power

2003 · inkjet print on canvas

Paper: 101.6 x 76.2 cm (40 x 30 in.); Framed: 139.6 x 86.4 cm (54 15/16 x 34 in.)

Cleveland Museum of Art

View all 10 artworks →

Artwork sources (5)

10 published of 20 catalogued · 10 with image

Cleveland Museum of Art
7 published
The Met
2 published
Whitney
1 published
+ 2 more sources · 10 catalogued, not yet published

Per-Artwork Provenance Chains (top 7)

7 entries · 1 sources

Strange Fruit
2011 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Winter in America
2005 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Absolut Power
2003 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Your Skin has the Power to Protect You
2008 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Four Freedoms Photographs
2018 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Scarred Chest
2004 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number
Slack Power
2006 · Cleveland · 1 prov
Url Pattern Extraction 2026-05-27·accession_number

Record

Images

29 assets

Wikipedia

Artsy

View all 29 media items →

Relationships

Movements2

Pop Art Conceptual Art

Collections6

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum The Metropolitan Museum of Art Cleveland Museum of Art Whitney Museum of American Art Christie's Pace Gallery

Institutional

Representation & Collections

Gallery

Pace Gallery

In collection

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

In collection

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

In collection

Cleveland Museum of Art

In collection

Whitney Museum of American Art

Market

Auction sale history

Houses that have sold works by this artist at auction

Auction house

Christie's

Background

Education

New York University Tisch School of the Arts

Visual Arts

California College of the Arts

Visual Arts

Record

Exhibitions and timeline

Solo Exhibition Hank Willis Thomas

2025