Mickalene Thomas: All About Love

A major survey chronicling Thomas’ vibrant, rhinestone-adorned paintings

New York–based artist Mickalene Thomas’ critically acclaimed and extensive body of work spans painting, collage, print, photography, video and immersive installations. With influences ranging from 19th-century painting to popular culture, Thomas’ art articulates a complex and empowering vision of womanhood while expanding on and subverting common definitions of beauty, sexuality, celebrity and politics. This major survey publication further affirms Thomas’ status as a key figure of contemporary art. It features notable works that are arranged in thematic chapters throughout the book.

The book also features an interview with the artist by Rachel Thomas, and is followed by essays from Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Darnell L. Moore, Claudia Rankine, Ed Schad, Renée Mussai and Christine Y. Kim, which cover her distinct visual vocabulary, drawing on themes of intergenerational female empowerment, autobiography, memory and tenets of Black feminist theory. In particular, they explore how Thomas subverts art history to reclaim the notions of repose, rest and leisure in works that celebrate self-expression and joy. For the artist, repose is a radical act, pointing to "what is able to happen once you have the agency."

Mickalene Thomas is a 2002-03 Studio Museum in Harlem artist in residence.

Author(s): Beverly Guy-Sheftall, Kristian Conteras, Darnell L. Moore, Claudia Rankine, Ed Schad, Christine Y. Kim, and Renée Mussai

—

Hardcover, D.A.P., 2024
224 p, 8 × 10 in.