Branded Head

Artist Hank Willis Thomas considers the legacies of branding across time. He is particularly concerned with the commodification of Black bodies, noting,“For so many African American men…the idea of ascending is chained to ascending through sports and entertainment.” Such ideas take poignant form in his photograph of a Black man in profile. Cropped so that the features of his face are missing, the figure becomes anonymous. Marked only by the Nike swoosh on the side of his head, he is transformed from an individual to a thing, no longer a subject but an object.