Hank Willis Thomas
Check out fellow CCA alumnus Hank Willis Thomas at the Baltimore Museum of Art. As part of his Artist-in-Residence program at Johns Hopkins Center for Africana Studies, Thomas is exhibiting a number of old and new works at the BMA through November 2009.
I went specifically to see Thomas' work but was also very pleasantly surprised to find a very welcoming and well situated museum that is intimate and unpretentious, yet houses an extensive and diverse collection ranging in periods from 19th century to Contemporary, of all mediums and genres including historical/cultural costumes, decorative arts, sculpture, mosaics, textiles and paintings. The museum restaurant, Gertrude's was also formidable - I had a delicious Oyster Po' Boy sandwich that was fresh, airy and light served on home baked bread. Give yourself ample time to enjoy this gem of a museum. There is a lot to discover.
http://www.artbma.org/exhibitions/index.html
http://www.artbma.org/exhibitions/index.html
Press release:
BALTIMORE, MD (July 29, 2009)—Discover the powerful work of multimedia artist Hank Willis Thomas in the BMA’s West Wing for Contemporary Art from July 29 through November 29, 2009. This acclaimed African-American artist is participating in the Artist-in-Residence Program at The Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Africana Studies during the fall 2009 semester. Thomas is a rising star in the art world, with works featured in numerous exhibitions at national and international venues, including the Studio Museum in Harlem, the National Portrait Gallery, and the Prague Contemporary Art Festival.
The exhibition features 10 examples of Thomas’ recent work exploring racial stereotypes and black identity in America. He first gained wide recognition for his provocative B®ANDED series, which raised questions about visual culture, the power of logos, and media representation of African Americans. An example from this series is Hang Time Circa 1923 (2008), which shows the Jumpman logo from Nike’s Air Jordan ad campaigns appropriated to create an image about lynching. The artist’s deeply personal video, Winter in America (2005), features G.I. Joe toy action figures re-enacting the senseless murder of his beloved cousin, showing how the seeds of violence are sown through play and also the all-too-common killings of young black men by their peers. In recent works such as the I Am A Man series of images (2009), Thomas explores the power of language as a means of questioning concepts of racial identity.
During his residency this fall, Thomas will participate in a series of lectures and workshops on JHU’s Homewood campus, as well as an artist’s conversation at the BMA on November 12, 2009.
Hank Willis Thomas
Hang Time Circa 1923
2008
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