Muse: Mickalene Thomas: Photographs

by Mickalene Thomas

Mickalene Thomas, known for her large-scale, multitextured and rhinestone-encrusted paintings of domestic interiors and portraits, identifies the photographic image as a defining touchstone for her practice. Thomas began to photograph herself and her mother as a student at Yale, studying under David Hilliard—a pivotal experience for her as an artist. This volume is the first to gather together her various approaches to photography, including portraits, collages, Polaroids and other processes. The work is a personal act of deconstruction and reappropriation. Working primarily in her studio, Thomas' portraits draw equally from memories of her mother, 1970s black-is-beautiful images of women such as supermodel Beverly Johnson and actress Vonetta McGee, Édouard Manet's odalisque figures and the mise-en-scène studio portraiture of James Van Der Zee and Malick Sidibé. The interior space of her studio, a reappearing character in many of her photographs and paintings, frequently takes on as much of a performative role as her models do. The space exudes a thick, cozy physicality from its layers of fur, rugs, wood paneling and multipatterned linoleum tiles—all of which are richly laden with sensory triggers of a 1970s American rumpus room.

Genres: Art, Photography, Nonfiction

120 pages, Hardcover

First published July 28, 2015

Reviews

[ツツ]

The hollowed out inner pages were such a fun idea! I’m not familiar with collages and this felt like my first real exposure but it seems to give a little Afrofuturism vibe here. Early 00s fashion is a no for me.

[VvTired (Lauren)]

3.5⭐️

[Lucy]

Absolutely beautiful portraits. Shattering societal notions of black womanhood.

[Mills College Library]

779.2092 T4596m 2015