The Sculptures and Public Art of Hank Willis Thomas in 2026
September saw the announcement of the TIME100 Art 2026, a list of the most influential people in art for the year. Included in this list is Hank Willis Thomas, the New York-based conceptual artist who works with a variety of media to think through identity, popular culture and key moments in human history. His work is intimately related to civic engagement, both in its thematic focus as well as the frequency with which he produces public art. Prompted by this, we look at Thomas’s significant and recent public and sculptural work to unpack his approach to looking at the world.
‘In Search of the Truth (The Truth Booth)’ on view at Aspen Institute’s Resnick Center for Herbert Bayer Studies over July demonstrates how iteration and collaboration are tools used by Thomas to offer an ongoing interrogation of the way we perceive ourselves, the world and history. The installation is an interactive, traveling project that has travelled across five continents since its inception. Created by Thomas and fellow artists Ryan Alexiev, Jim Ricks, Will Sylvester, Helen Banach and Sam Giarratani under Cause Collective, the work was first shared publicly in 2011.This appetite for collective art initiatives is also seen in For Freedoms, a collective Thomas co-founded in 2016 to produce interventions that encourage people to probe national and international systems of power. Following a similar thread, ‘The Truth Booth’ is made up of an inflatable speech bubble and video recording studio. The installation invites members of the public to complete the sentence “The truth is…”. Having travelled across the world, this ongoing work exists as an ambitious yet optimistic platform for multiple voices to be heard. Participants have shared views on politics and socio-economic circumstances to personal reflections on love, hope, fear and grief. This work is also a perfect example of Thomas’s dedication to collaborative and participatory work. Through collective input both with those in the collective and the public audience, the work can have an ever-evolving life, existing beyond the vision of the artists who initiated it. Describing the intention beyond the project to Detroit Free Press during its 2016 iteration Cranbrook Art Museum, he states: “The project is about hearing the voices of those who are underrepresented. We live in a society that is primarily celebrity-oriented. This is a project that is democratised. Everyone is anonymous. I realize in that context you can learn so much from so many people”. This speaks to the power and significance of the project. The collective plan to have the installation travel across the US throughout 2026.
Thomas is also included in the FLAG Art Foundation’s Spotlight exhibition series intended to show new or never-before-exhibited artworks accompanied by commissioned writing. The artist presents ‘Love Over Rules (column)’ (2025), a large, stainless steel, text-based, vertical sculpture accompanied by a text by Ashley James, Ph.D., Curator of Contemporary Art at the Guggenheim Museum. ‘Love Over Rules’ is one of multiple phrases that the artist has used in various works across his practice, again speaking to the significance of iterations and repetition in his work. Taken from song lyrics his late cousin, Songha Thomas Willis, recorded shortly before his murder in 2000, the words speak to an approach to life. This exhibition marks the first time the artist uses the phrase in sculptural form, further solidifying the impression that these words have on Thomas. It is also the first time he uses text in three-dimensional form, perhaps thinking strongly about the core of the project which is to connect visual art with authors, poets, scholars and critics. In her text, James highlights the difficulty reading Thomas's selected typeface, serif font. For James, this almost illegibility signifies the layered references and time required to sit with work by Thomas to absorb the message or question beneath. ‘Love Over Rules (column)’ is on view until 7 November 2027.
