The Henry Art Gallery is serving up a slice of cultural critique with its latest exhibit "LOVERULES," showcasing the work of artist Hank Willis Thomas. Described by the Seattle Times as a "powerful gathering of work," the exhibit features over 90 pieces that throw a spotlight on the intersection of advertisements, consumerism, and identity, particularly within race and gender. Thomas, a Brooklyn-based conceptual artist, uses a mix of media to challenge viewers to reckon with the biased messaging inherent in popular culture.
"The medium is the message," Thomas declared in an interview, as punctuated by the Seattle Times. His art turns the mirror on society, revealing how ads and consumer culture bolster inequity and shape identities. One piece drawing eyes is "An All Colored Cast," which the Daily UW notes casts Hollywood stars of color in a complex web of visibility and recognition. This, along with the rest of the exhibit, navigates the narratives of modern commodification weaving through 20 years of Thomas' career.
In one striking element of the exhibit, Thomas' "Branded and Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America," he riffs on the history and iconography of sports sponsorship. Meanwhile, "Unbranded" strips away the sales pitch from advertisements, leaving bare the common tropes in how race and gender are commercially depicted. "Advertising is not seen as art, but it's actually the most ubiquitous artform," Thomas told Daily UW, spotlighting the pervasive influence of corporate media in shaping societal outlooks.
Another compelling series, "Unbranded: A Century of White Women," presents a year-by-year deconstruction of the white woman archetype in advertising. Displayed in around 50 works, this reveals an enduring narrative, as observed by Daily UW, of racial and gender dynamics in society's fabric, a fabric often sold to us piece by piece through the mechanisms of traditional advertisements.
In stepping through the Henry Art Gallery, viewers are beckoned to critically examine how identity—and the commodification of it—has been sculpted over a century. The confrontational yet accessible art of Hank Willis Thomas at "LOVERULES" lays bare the reality that what we consume, in the form of ads and cultural narratives, consumes us in return, leaving us to ponder the cost of a society sold one billboard at a time.
