Hank Willis Thomas’ 2005–08 series Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America 1968-2008 decontextualizes advertising images targeted toward African-American audiences in print magazines including Ebony and Jet.
Hank Willis Thomas’ 2005–08 series Unbranded: Reflections in Black by Corporate America 1968-2008 decontextualizes advertising images targeted toward African-American audiences in print magazines including Ebony and Jet. For this series, Thomas appropriates and removes all branding from 4 decades of advertising photography. The result is a deceptively simple but shockingly insightful commentary on the ability of advertising to shape our cultural development and perceptions. Using the years of Martin Luther King’s assassination and President Barack Obama’s election as start and end points, Thomas challenges viewers to distinguish between the messages conveyed through text and visual imagery.
Free Admission
Phone: 205-975-6436
Email: aeiva@uab.edu
2019/05/31 - 2019/08/10
Additional time info:
Panel discussion at 5pm on May 31st, followed by an opening reception from 6-8pm for the exhibitions Hank Willis Thomas: unbranded and Mary Frances Whitfield: Why?
UAB Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts (AEIVA)
1221 10th Ave. South, Birmingham, AL 36294