Last updated: 27 October 2026
Hank Willis Thomas is the New York conceptual artist behind The Embrace in Boston and the giant Afro pick at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Here you will find our take on his work, his shows and his editions.
Our take on Hank Willis Thomas
Thomas works with the language of advertising, sport and protest. His bronze All Power to All People enlarges an Afro pick topped with a raised fist to monumental scale. The fist, he says, “is worn as adornment, a political emblem, and signature of collective identity,” according to Goodman Gallery.
In 2023 he unveiled The Embrace on Boston Common, made with MASS Design Group in memory of Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King.
UK visitors can see the bronze at Yorkshire Sculpture Park until August 2027. His 28-colour screen print Twilight’s Last Gleaming is on sale through Phaidon.
Hank Willis Thomas: the essentials
- Born in Plainfield, New Jersey, in 1976; lives and works in New York, according to his CV at Ben Brown Fine Arts.
- Studied photography and Africana studies at New York University (BFA, 1998) and photography at California College of the Arts (MFA, 2004).
- Made The Embrace (2023) on Boston Common with MASS Design Group.
- Guggenheim Fellow in 2018.
- His work is in collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney and the Guggenheim.
Hank Willis Thomas exhibitions
- On now: All Power to All People (bronze), Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield, 15 August 2025 to 20 August 2027.
- RED (group), Ordovas, London, 2026.
- Past Time, solo show, Pace Gallery, Los Angeles, 2026.
- I Am Many, solo show, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, 2025.
Where to buy a Hank Willis Thomas print
One edition is on sale with UK pricing:
- Twilight’s Last Gleaming, 2024, £1,375: 28-colour screen print on Arches Platine paper, 33 x 48.3 cm (13 x 19 in), signed, edition of 75, from Phaidon. It ships from New York; a maple frame is £256 more.
Hank Willis Thomas FAQs
Where can I see Hank Willis Thomas in the UK?
His bronze All Power to All People is at Yorkshire Sculpture Park until 20 August 2027.
What is The Embrace?
A bronze memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King on Boston Common, unveiled in 2023.
Can I buy a Hank Willis Thomas print?
Yes. Phaidon sells Twilight’s Last Gleaming (2024), an edition of 75, for £1,375.
Where is Hank Willis Thomas from?
Plainfield, New Jersey. He lives and works in New York.
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Main image: Hank Willis Thomas at the groundbreaking of The Embrace, Boston Common, 2022. Photo: Joshua Qualls, Governor’s Press Office, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain. Cropped and framed by CoolCuration. Exhibition dates and prices last checked: 27 October 2026.
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