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Hank Willis Thomas
Hank Willis Thomas, Priceless #1, 2004.
In creating Priceless #1, visual artist and social activist Hank Willis Thomas began with a photograph he made at the funeral of his cousin Songha Willis, who was murdered during a violent robbery in 2000.
“No picture could express what I was feeling at the moment,” Thomas told the New York Times about the final work. “It’s when I stopped being a photographer and became an artist.”
Thomas visited Sheldon in 2015 to present "After Identity, What?"—a lecture on his socially engaged artistic practice, which encourages viewers to move beyond misconceptions and singular views of individuals and histories.
Image at top:
Hank Willis Thomas
born Plainfield, NJ 1976
Priceless #1
Lambda photograph, 2004
32 x 40 inches
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Anna R. and Frank M. Hall Charitable Trust, H-3120.2015
In creating Priceless #1, visual artist and social activist Hank Willis Thomas began with a photograph he made at the funeral of his cousin Songha Willis, who was murdered during a violent robbery in 2000.
“No picture could express what I was feeling at the moment,” Thomas told the New York Times about the final work. “It’s when I stopped being a photographer and became an artist.”
Thomas visited Sheldon in 2015 to present "After Identity, What?"—a lecture on his socially engaged artistic practice, which encourages viewers to move beyond misconceptions and singular views of individuals and histories.
Hank Willis Thomas
born Plainfield, NJ 1976
Priceless #1
Lambda photograph, 2004
32 x 40 inches
Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Anna R. and Frank M. Hall Charitable Trust, H-3120.2015