Based in Brooklyn, New York, he works primarily with themes related to identity, history, and popular culture.

In 2024, CCA alum Thomas received an honorary doctorate from the California College of the Arts alongside Deb Willis.

[5] His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad including the International Center of Photography, New York; Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain; Musée du quai Branly, Paris; Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, and the Witte de With Center for Contemporary Art, Netherlands.

[6][7] Writing in The Guardian, critic Arwa Mahdawi observed: "Thomas's work 'unbrands' advertising: stripping away the commercial context, and leaving the exposed image to speak for itself.

"[8] His two screenprints of 2013, And I Can't Run and Blow the Man Down, express the erasure of past injustices to the black male body by printing photographs of humiliations or executions of black men on retro-reflective vinyl (commonly used for street signs), rendering them invisible except under flash photography.

[10] In 2017, Thomas also unveiled his permanent public artwork Love Over Rules in San Francisco and All Power to All People in Opa Locka, Florida.

[11] Other major publications include Aperature's Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal... (2018), and Philadelphia Photo Arts Center (PPAC)'s The Philly Block Project (2017).

The artwork was inspired by a black and white photo of the couple sharing an embrace after Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the fall of 2018, For Freedoms launched a major billboard campaign in every state, including Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

"[16] Through dozens of iterations of Rockwell's original four paintings, the 82 images in the campaign attempted to reflect the immeasurable diversity of American identities today.

Celebrities such as Rosario Dawson, Dolores Huerta, Gina Belafonte, Van Jones, Jesse Williams, Robert A. Nakamura and Karen L. Ishizuka, Kiran Gandhi, Michael Ealy, Saul Williams, Rodney Barnette, and others were included in the reinterpretations.

The Long March is a 27 monitor installation commissioned by the recently renovated Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport.

The travelers who will encounter the piece will be able to envision themselves as part of this mosaic that is symbolized through Alabama's relationship to ‘the march’ as a form of historical progression.

[20][21] The New York Times writes: "The “Truth Booth,” [is] a roving, inflatable creation by a group of artists calling itself the Cause Collective.

The booth, in the shape of a cartoon word bubble with “TRUTH” in bold letters on its side, serves as a video confessional.

[22] To date, the project has travelled Ireland, Afghanistan, South Africa, Australia, the United States, and Mexico.

Ultimately, the goal of this project is to try to capture as many definitions, confessions and thoughts on The Truth as possible, creating a diverse ‘portrait’ of people across the globe.

Hank Willis Thomas installed a sculpture entitled, “All Power to all people” which consisted of an afro pick standing eight feet tall near Philadelphia city hall.

His father, also Hank Thomas, is a jazz musician, film producer, physicist, and a member of the Black Panther Party.

[45] Inspired by the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers's slogan "I am a man", Thomas became interested in exploring how many different ways that phrase could be read.