Weekly Artist Feature | Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas (born January 28, 1971) is a celebrated queer Black woman artist whose bold, rhinestone-encrusted paintings and mixed-media works have redefined contemporary portraiture. Born in Camden, New Jersey, Thomas studied at Pratt Institute and earned her MFA from Yale University School of Art. Her work explores themes of Black womanhood, beauty, identity, and sexuality, drawing deeply from art history, 1970s aesthetics, and her personal experiences.
Through her signature use of collage, photography, video, and painting, Thomas centers Black women as empowered subjects, challenging Eurocentric standards and creating space for alternative narratives in art. Influenced by the legacies of the Black Power and feminist movements, as well as her late mother and muse, Sandra Bush, Thomas constructs lush visual worlds that celebrate complexity, resilience, and self-possession. Her work has been widely exhibited in major museums and collections globally, and she remains a defining voice in shaping a more inclusive and representative art historical canon.
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Highlights:
- Gained widespread recognition with her 2012 solo exhibition Origin of the Universe at the Brooklyn Museum, marking her first major solo museum show in the United States.
- Created Le déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires (2012), a reinterpretation of Manet’s iconic work, which was prominently displayed in the window of The Modern at MoMA, making it one of her most publicly visible pieces.
- Collaborated with musician Solange Knowles in 2013, creating the cover art for Solange's EP True and contributing to the visual aesthetic of the project.
- Directed the HBO short film Happy Birthday to a Beautiful Woman (2014), an intimate tribute to her mother and muse, Sandra Bush
- Held the exhibition Better Nights at The Bass Museum in Miami Beach in 2019
- Has a major retrospective exhibition, All About Love, at The Broad in Los Angeles in 2023, showcasing nearly 100 works and highlighting her exploration of Black femininity, beauty, and love.
- Click the link to learn more about Mickalene Thomas and her work through her Instagram.
- When We See Us Group Exhibition – BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium (Feb 7, 2025 - Aug 10, 2025)
- Carnival Group Exhibition – Jeffrey Deitch, New York (Wooster Str) (May 3, 2025 - Jun 28, 2025)
- All About Love – Les Abattoirs, Musée–Frac Occitanie Toulouse (June 13–November 9, 2025) This major international touring exhibition presents over 90 works spanning two decades of Thomas's career, including paintings, 4collages, photographs, and installations. The exhibition explores themes of Black femininity, beauty, and love, drawing inspiration from bell hooks's book All About Love.
Past Exhibitions
- “Origin of the Universe” – Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA (2012)
- “Origin of the Universe” – Santa Monica Museum of Art, California, USA (2012)
- Mentors, Muses and Celebrities – Aspen Art Museum, Colorado, USA (2016)
- Do I Look Like a Lady? – MOCA Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA (2016–2017)
- Femmes Noires – Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, Canada (2018)
- Better Nights – The Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach, Florida, USA (2019)
- Avec Monet – Musée de l'Orangerie, Paris, France (2022)
- Je t'adore – Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, USA (2023)
- All About Love – The Broad, Los Angeles, California, USA (2024)
- All About Love – The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA (2024–2025)
- All About Love – Hayward Gallery, London, UK (2025)
Works
