Permanent Installation
Permanently installed at the Miami Underline, Duality extends its arm and triumphantly displays its two fingers. The positioning of the fingers can be interpreted as a "V" for victory, a fun peace sign, or a vulgar insult.
As a continuation of Thomas's other gesture related works, Duality draws inspiration from his Puctum series, a concept that stemmed from French philosopher Roland Barthes’s idea of "the punctum." Thomas utilizes "the punctum" as a foundation as he isolates a specific area of an image and re-presents it as sculpture, encouraging a shift of focus resulting in an ambiguous interpretation of its meaning.
Duality represents a call to “loving action” to inspire mutual understanding and positive solutions. Aligning with his other celebrated permanent artworks including Unity, at the Brooklyn Bridge in New York and, and Raise Up, at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL Duality reaches up and welcomes viewers to evaluate their personal interpretations of matter presented to them.
Hank Willis Thomas. Duality, 2023, on view at The Underline's River Room in Miami. Image courtesy of Friends of the Underline.