Phaidon, Artspace, and Avant Arte are proud to announce the global launch of two exclusive limited edition collages by critically acclaimed American artist Mickalene Thomas. Jet Blue #11 and Left Behind (both 2021) are composed of diverse materials including hand-cut inkjet prints, pigment-printed silk fragments, and hand-applied acrylic pochoir, resulting in two editions of 10 signed and numbered collage prints. Each print comes fitted in a UV-protective plexi frame along with a signed and numbered copy of Phaidon’s 2021 monograph Mickalene Thomas, all of which is housed in a handmade painted wooden box laser engraved with the artist’s name. The box is presented in a red velour dust bag screen-printed with the Mickalene Thomas studio logo.

Thomas’ artwork draws on autobiographical material, socio-political discourse, and American art influences, as well as 19th century French painting and established figures from the international 20th century canon. Her awareness of the complex cultural landscape of the 1970s in which she was raised—the dreams of modernism and radical calls for racial equality looming large in the collective consciousness—deeply influenced her iconic visual vocabulary. Thomas’ decades-long exploration of the Black female figure celebrates the power, beauty, and strength of her subjects with an emphasis on individuality, honoring their agency and ownership of their own bodies and identities.