Athletes are more than people who run fast, jump long ways, throw balls. They symbolise the manifestation of our greatest hopes and dreams.
Hank Willis Thomas
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Experience the intensity of the 1936 Olympics in a new print from conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas.
"The only bond worth anything between human beings is their humanness." explores the social and historical meaning of sport through the figure of Jesse Owens. The record breaking athlete launches at full power across the paper, racing in the 100 metre dash. He wears collaged clothing in red and doily patterned white. A blue background, also collaged, introduces the third colour of the American flag.
The print is based on a new original work by Hank Willis Thomas currently on view in Paris, the host city for the 2024 Olympics. To replicate the dynamic texture of the original, printmakers built up variable height in nine layers of UV cured ink
Hank Willis Thomas3 collaborationsFor Hank Willis Thomas, art is a means to visualise a message. As the co-founder of For Freedoms, Thomas is widely known for his boundary-pushing public art projects and collaborative approach. Black history and social activism soak into many different mediums in his work, including sculpture, photography, appliqué, film and installation. Growing up as part of the “MTV generation” and as the son of photographer and art historian Deborah Willis, Thomas mixes pop culture references with archive research. Whatever the concept needs is the form the art will take. In Thomas’s own words: “I care more about ideas than medium”. His most cherished idea? Love. For Thomas, love is a form of social liberation – offering a radical tool for learning, healing and hope.
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