She's Beautiful When She's Angry | Portland State University

She's Beautiful When She's Angry / One Big Tragedy May Save Many Others

Hank Willis Thomas

A framed photographic print is hung on a dark grey wall. Its colors are primarily white and pink, and the imagery is hard to make out. A person stands at right, looking at it.

As seen in normal lighting conditions. Photo by Evan La Londe

The framed photo is shown, lit only by a photographic flash. It now looks black and white, and people are clearly visible in the imagery.

The print as it appears when the retroflective vinyl is lit by a flash. Photo by Evan La Londe

The photo is shown as it appears in normal light. Its colors are primarily white and pink, and figures can be seen, but the imagery is hard to make out.

As seen in normal lighting conditions. Photo courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery

The artwork as it appears when lit by flash. Imagery is clearly visible, juxtaposing two archival images of women engaged in large protests.

The print as it appears when the retroflective vinyl is lit by a flash. Photo courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery

Detail of the print as it appears in normal light. At left, in pink, two women can be seen in a crowd; at left, in silver on white, a crowd of figures is barely visible.

Detail, as seen in normal lighting conditions. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery

Detail of the print as it appears when lit by a flash. At left, two women can be seen. At right, a dense crowd of figures in hats.

Detail, as it appears when the retroflective vinyl is lit by a flash. Image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery

About the artwork

Hank Willis Thomas
She's Beautiful When She's Angry, 2018
Dimensions(h x w x d): 48.75" x 20"
Screen print on retroflective vinyl, mounted on Dibond
Located in Fariborz Maseeh Hall, first floor northeast vestibule area

She's Beautiful When She's Angry... is a retroreflective work activated by flash photography. As Jack Shainman Gallery describes, “much of Thomas’ work demands that viewers shift their position or use a tool to see it in its entirety.” The light-activated works in the Retroflectives series, first exhibited in 2018, are drawn from archival imagery that documents twentieth-century protest movements. Their material qualities implicate and engage the viewer, who, by re-photographing to reveal the latent image, steps into the role of image maker.

This composition juxtaposes two archival images—one of women from the second half of the 20th century with arms linked, and one of a formation of women in white dresses marching on a street in the late 19th or early 20th century. The retroreflective vinyl responds to flash photography in such a way that when a viewer takes a photograph of the piece with flash, different areas of the images are more visible and the colors change overall.

About the artist

Hank Willis Thomas is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to Black identity, commodity, media, and popular culture. His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad including the International Center of Photography, New York and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Spain. Learn more about his work on his website.

This work was acquired through Oregon's Percent for Art in Public Places Program, managed by the Oregon Arts Commission.

Banner image courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery.