Mickalene Thomas facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mickalene Thomas
Thomas speaking April 2017 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
Born	(1971-01-28) January 28, 1971 (age 54) Camden, New Jersey
Nationality	American
Education	Pratt Institute, Southern Cross University, Yale University
Known for	painting, photography, collage, sculpture, printmaking, video art and installation art

Mickalene Thomas (born January 28, 1971) is a modern African-American visual artist. She is famous for her paintings that use rhinestones, acrylic paint, and enamel. Thomas creates collages inspired by art history, including Impressionism, Cubism, and the Harlem Renaissance. Her art explores ideas about women, beauty, and identity.

Early Life and Education

Mickalene Thomas was born on January 28, 1971, in Camden, New Jersey. Her mother, Sandra "Mama Bush" Bush, was a model in the 1970s. She encouraged Mickalene and her brother to explore art. They attended after-school programs at the Newark Museum and the Henry Street Settlement in New York.

Thomas studied pre-law and Theater Arts in Portland, Oregon, in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She later earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from Pratt Institute in 2000. She then received her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from Yale School of Art in 2002. Thomas also completed art residency programs at the Studio Museum in Harlem and in Giverny, France. Today, she lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

Art Style and Influences

Early in her career, Mickalene Thomas was inspired by independent artists and musicians. She found fashion to be a big source of ideas for her art. Important artists who influenced her include Jacob Lawrence, William H. Johnson, and Romare Bearden.

A major influence was Carrie Mae Weems, especially her "Kitchen Table" series. Thomas saw Weems' work in 1994 and felt it showed her own experiences as an African-American woman. This inspired Thomas to change her studies and focus on art. Faith Ringgold also greatly influenced Thomas's artistic journey.

Portraying Black Women

Thomas's art often shows African-American women. She explores ideas of fame and identity, focusing on how black women are shown in art and culture. Her subjects sometimes include famous women like Eartha Kitt, Whitney Houston, and Oprah Winfrey. She also painted a portrait of Michelle Obama, which was displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.

In her 2017 exhibition "Mentors, Muses, and Celebrities," Thomas created art that told the stories of black women. Art critic Rikki Byrd noted that Thomas showed black women as heroes and important figures.

Art History and Mixed Media

Thomas has studied art history, portrait painting, and landscape painting for many years. She gets ideas from different art periods and cultures, especially early modern artists like Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, Pablo Picasso, Henri Matisse, and Édouard Manet. She also draws inspiration from modern artists like Romare Bearden and actress Pam Grier.

Thomas often uses classic poses and abstract backgrounds in her figures. This helps her give power back to women who have often been shown as objects in art. She is known for her detailed mixed-media paintings. These works use rhinestones, acrylic paint, and enamel to show a "complex vision of what it means to be a woman." The rhinestones add meaning and can make us think about what is considered feminine.

Thomas's art focuses on showing women of color. She aims to celebrate their culture and beauty. Her work is part of the Post-Black Art movement, which redefines ideas about race and gender. Her subjects often look directly at the viewer, which challenges the traditional way women are viewed in art. This strong portrayal shows that the models are comfortable and confident.

Thomas's art also highlights the strength and beauty of women of color. She shows them as strong and stunning women who capture the viewer's attention.

Le Déjeuner Sur l'Herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires is a famous painting by Mickalene Thomas. Its title means "The luncheon on the grass: The Three Black Women" in French. This painting is a modern version of Édouard Manet's 1863 painting, Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe.

Thomas's painting shows three black women wearing colorful, vintage-patterned clothes and beautiful Afro-styled hair. Their positions are similar to Manet's subjects, but all three women look directly at the viewer. Thomas created this large painting in 2010 for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City.

How it was Made

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires was made in three steps. First, Thomas photographed three models in the sculpture garden of the MoMA. This made the piece specific to that location. Next, Thomas made a collage using the photograph as a base. This collage is now at MoMA PS1, an extension of MoMA. The third step was the painted version. It was based on the photograph but used collage-like painted parts on wood panels. She used acrylic, oil, enamel, and rhinestones.

The painting is very large, standing 10 feet tall and 24 feet wide. Thomas said she chose this huge size to "take up space" in places that were usually dominated by white male artists. The painting was first displayed in the window of The Modern, MoMA's restaurant. This made it visible to people on the street at all times, making it Thomas's most public artwork at the time.

The women in the painting are friends of Thomas. They are fully clothed in colorful dresses designed by Thomas herself. They sit on fabrics arranged by the artist. Many vintage patterns are used in the work. Thomas says these patterns show "all the different things we are as Americans." Behind the women, there is a Henri Matisse sculpture, just like in the original photograph taken at MoMA.

Artistic Influences

Le déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires is clearly based on Édouard Manet's 1863 painting. Manet's piece showed two women and two men at a picnic. One woman in Manet's painting looks at the viewer.

In Thomas's version, all three women of color in the foreground look directly at the viewer. They wear colorful dresses with patterns from the 1970s. The woman in the background of Manet's scene is replaced by a Henri Matisse sculpture in Thomas's piece. Thomas often includes references to Matisse in her art. She has also mentioned Romare Bearden as an influence. Besides these clear influences, Le déjeuner sur l'herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires is also inspired by Dada, cubism, and the Harlem Renaissance.

Other Art Forms

Besides paintings, Mickalene Thomas also works with photography, collage, printmaking, video art, sculpture, and installation art. Her "Odalisque" series (2007) explores the relationship between the artist and the model. She has also used themes from Western art in new ways. Her "FBI/Serial Portraits" (2008) were based on mug shots of African-American women.

In 2012, her first major solo museum exhibition, Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe, opened. This show featured many of her recent portraits, landscapes, and interior scenes.

Thomas has worked with musician Solange. She created the cover art for Solange's 2013 EP True. They also worked together on a trailer for the music video "Losing You."

Her short film Happy Birthday to a Beautiful Woman is about her mother, Sandra Bush, who was also her artistic inspiration for a long time. In the film, Sandra talks about her life, relationships, and beauty. The film was shown on HBO in 2014.

Special Projects and Collaborations

Mickalene Thomas has received several special commissions. In 2019, Rolls-Royce auctioned a custom-designed Phantom car. The winner could have the car decorated with a unique design by Thomas. This project helped raise money for the global AIDS charity (RED).

In 2020, Thomas designed a version of Dior's famous 1947 bar jacket for a fashion show. For Dior's haute couture show in January 2023, Thomas created the stage design. She used collaged black and white images of 13 Black and mixed-race female performers, including Josephine Baker and Nina Simone. These images had embroidered details.

Awards and Residencies

Thomas has won many awards and grants for her art. These include the BOMB Magazine Honor (2015), the MoCADA Artistic Advocacy Award (2015), and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant (2009).

She has also participated in several artist residency programs. These include Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2013), Versailles Foundation Munn Artists Program in France (2011), and the Studio Museum in Harlem (2003).

Notable Works in Public Collections

Images for kids

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  Thomas speaking April 2017 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum

See also

In Spanish: Mickalene Thomas para niños