The LSU Museum of Art is opening an exhibit of works by Hank Willis Thomas on Thursday, April 20. Willis Thomas most recently was heralded for his sculpture, ‘The Embrace,’ unveiled on Boston Common, recalling the hug between Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
The LSU Museum of Art in the Shaw Center for the Arts, 100 Lafayette St., will host a free reception and panel discussion at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 20, for the opening of “Hank Willis Thomas/Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America.”
Thomas is the sculptor of “The Embrace,” unveiled earlier this year in Boston Common. The 20-foot-tall sculpture is a bronze figural abstraction based on a photo of an embrace between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King after he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
Hank Willis Thomas’ LightJet print, ‘Something to Believe In, 1984/2007.’Hank Willis Thomas. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
The LSU Museum of Art’s show is a curated selection of Thomas’ works running through Sunday, July 30. In this show, Thomas investigates race, identity and class, with a focus on African American imagery and references in advertising, media and popular culture.
Thomas’ series “Unbranded” surveys 50 years of print advertising targeting African Americans. This exhibit features a selection of 40 images, drawn from the original series of 82 artworks organized by LSU.
Thomas’ work has exhibited nationally and internationally.
In the lineup in Thursday’s panel discussion are the LSU Museum of Art Curatorial Fellow Clarke Brown; Nancy Hampton, Interim Library Director at Xavier University of Louisiana; and Gheni Platenburg, assistant professor of Journalism, at the Auburn University School of Communication and Journalism. They will discuss the history of cultural representation through Ebony and Jet Magazine.
For more information, visit lsumoa.org.
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