‘Mickalene Thomas: All About Love’ is now on view at The Broad in Los Angeles, California. The exhibition showcases over 90 works spanning two decades of the artist’s career, highlighting Thomas’s dynamic practice across various mediums, from mixed-media painting to photography. The exhibition draws its title and themes from Bell Hooks’ pivotal text, focusing on love as a transformative, liberating force. Thomas demands that Black women be seen and understood, urging viewers to embrace what hooks calls “practitioners of love.”
The Broad’s exhibition includes early works like the photographic triptych ‘Lounging, Standing, Looking’ (2003), featuring the artist’s mother, and ‘Portrait of Maya No. 10’ (2017), an eight-foot-tall rhinestone piece that commands attention. The exhibition is accompanied by a full slate of programming, including concerts, comedy nights, and wellness events, centering on women, Black, and queer communities.
Born in Camden, New Jersey, in 1971, Thomas earned her MFA from Yale in 2002 and quickly gained recognition for her rhinestone-adorned acrylic paintings of Black women in domestic settings. These works challenge the art historical canon, reclaiming the narrative for Black femininity. Thomas also reimagines scenes from 19th-century French painters like Matisse and Manet, subverting Western cultural narratives.
The exhibition is on view through September 29, 2024.
The Broad
221 S Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
