Mickalene Thomas

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Born: 1971

Hometown: Camden, NJ

Lives and Works: Brooklyn, NY

Twitter: @mickalenethomas

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=641938890

Education: MFA, Painting, Yale University School of Art, New Haven, CT, 2002
BFA, Painting, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, 2000

Mickalene Thomas Bio

About The Artist

While "bling" is typically worn around the neck of musical icons such as Beyonce and Jay Z, the rhinestones and glitter of Mickalene Thomas's paintings are important to her complex exploration of womanhood and our definitions of beauty. Combining modern materials such as acrylic and enamel with art historical motifs and allusions to predecessors like Manet and Matisse, Thomas creates magnetic portraits of strong, powerful women that challenge traditional notions of beauty, gender, and race.

The success of Thomas' balance of the iconic and contemporary was evident to anyone strolling by New York's Museum of Modern Art, where a large painting by Thomas titled Le Déjeuner Sur L'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires, referencing Manet's famous work, bedecked the façade next to the museum's acclaimed restaurant, The Modern.

Mickalene Thomas Interview

Artist Q&A

1. Who's your favorite artist?
David Hockney.
2. What's your favorite film?
Bullets Over Broadway by Woody Allen.
3. If not yourself, who would you want to be?
Priscilla, my dog, the funniest miniature long-haired dachshund that I know.
4. What's your motto or favorite quote?
"Never be shaken, no matter what happens or what others say. Never be flustered. Never lose confidence. This is the way we should strive to live our lives. Doing so is a sign of genuine character." — Daisaku Ikeda
5. What would you want your last meal on earth to be?
Pork. Loads of pork, especially the pork belly!
6. What's your guilty pleasure?
Watching a movie to fall asleep.

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Mickalene Thomas Gallery Art

Galleries

Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, NY
Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects, Culver City, CA

Mickalene Thomas Permanent Collections

Select Permanent Collections

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY
The Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, CA
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington DC