Renowned US conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas has been chosen to launch a new public art programme, Level Ground, which is debuting at Glastonbury Festival in 2024. Thomas’ iconic sculpture All Power to All People, 2023 focuses on racial identity and representation. The iconic artwork was initially inspired by the 1970s Black Power Movement and has since gained new iconographic symbolism for the recent Black Lives Matter movement.
Patina Bronze
98 x 42 1/2 x 2 1/2 in. | 248.92 x 107.95 x 6.35 cm
© Hank Willis Thomas. All rights reserved. Courtesy Hank Willis Thomas, Goodman Gallery, and Pace Gallery
Thomas’ piece has been selected by Level Ground, a new non-profit organisation aimed to revolutionise and democratise public art by prioritising inclusion and representation. Towering over eight feet tall and weighing almost 800 pounds, All Power to All People is an enlarged Afro pick with a power fist cast in patina bronze protruding at a slight tilt. Glastonbury goers will be able to visit Thomas’ colossal and memorable piece opposite the West Holts Stage.
The artwork takes symbolic references and cultural imagery from both past and present-day, examining their historic origins, and analysing how certain objects have acted as a pillar of fortitude and resilience – here, reimagining it at a large-scale.
Photography Credit Jai Lennard
“This piece highlights ideas related to community, strength, perseverance, comradeship, and resistance to oppression. I am honoured to present it at Glastonbury in partnership with Level Ground where it will be showcased on the world’s largest stage. The Afro pick today exists as many things to different people; it is worn as adornment, a political emblem, and a signature of collective identity. It is a testament to innovation that connects millions of people to the energy and joy of Glastonbury Festival.” – Hank Willis Thomas, featured artist.
The title of Thomas’ work All Power to All People powerfully mirrors Level Ground’s guiding mission; a purpose-driven arts organisation that aims to create a fairer, more inclusive, and more representative landscape for public art.
‘Level Ground is a radical new movement securing the future of public art. We believe art can and should be beneficial to society, and that arts organisations have a responsibility to make public art relevant and available to all. We have a bold vision and a practical system to achieve this change and, after several years of hard work, we’re ready to implement it across the UK.’ – Simon Vaughn, Level Ground Co-founder
All Power to All People sculpture will travel from Glastonbury to Yorkshire Sculpture Park, where the work will be on view through August 2025
©2024 Level Ground, Hank Willis Thomas
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