Join us on June 7, 2021 when Tremaine Emory is joined in conversation by his friend and celebrated contemporary artist Hank Willis Thomas, moderated by Dr. Amy Raffel.

Tremaine and Hank will use Amy’s book Art and Merchandise in Keith Haring’s Pop Shop as a jumping-off point to discuss intersections in their work between media, pop culture, and art multiples as activism.

This virtual talk is presented as part of the Queens Museum’s Give Up the Goods 2021 Benefit.

Bios

Tremaine Emory was born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Queens, New York. The founder and creative director of Denim Tears, Emory is a storyteller with a penchant for fashion, music, and culture. Producing radio shows, podcasts, and envisioning crossovers between contemporary art and creative outlets under No Vacancy Inn, Emory works as a leader of the cultural provocateur. Who’s worked with the likes of Stüssy, Tom Sachs, Kanye West, Frank Ocean, Andre 3000, Theaster Gates, Serge Becker, Converse, Hank Willis Thomas, and Virgil Abloh. Tremaine is acutely in tune with the worlds of fashion, culture and art and the new-gen talents emerging from each.

Hank Willis Thomas (b. 1976, Plainfield, NJ; lives and works in Brooklyn, NY) is a conceptual artist working primarily with themes related to perspective, 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; 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.

Dr. Amy Raffel, PhD, currently works as the Head of Content for the College Art Association (CAA), where she oversees the organization’s four journals, programming, grants and awards, and future content initiatives. She has broad expertise in art history with a PhD degree from the CUNY Graduate Center and a Master’s degree from the Institute of Fine Arts (NYU). Her research focuses on 1980s downtown New York City, with a concentration on Keith Haring. She recently published her first academic book, Art and Merchandise in Keith Haring’s Pop Shop, as an independent scholar with Routledge. Prior to CAA, Raffel worked at the Queens Museum, developing and leading interpretation initiatives to increase audience engagement.