Barnes Foundation Features East Coast Debut of Mickalene Thomas: All About Love Through Jan. 12

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love reveals the evolution and revolution of Thomas' artistic practice.

"She's an artist who has, over the past two decades, created artworks that shift the paradigm in how we see Black women," says Renée Mussai, independent curator for the exhibition.

There are a few early self-portraits of the artist on view, including a work called Afro Goddess Looking Forward.

"She works through a Black feminist prism of desire," says Mussai. "There is a very palpable sense of visual pleasure and visual liberation."

When viewing Thomas' work, Mussai says visitors will see "a gaze by a Black queer woman."

There are nearly 50 works on display.

"She's one of those incredibly skilled multi-disciplinary artists who creates these monumental artworks," says Mussai. "This is her time. This is a time where Black women can occupy this space in all of their glory."

She says that Thomas' works are "not only rupturing the canon, but suturing it with a new visuality."

Rhinestones are part of her visual signature.

"Those rhinestones play and speak with light, so they create a kind of glimmer and a sparkle, and the works become very much alive," she says.

Thomas' muses are all part of her inner circle.

"There is an homage to her mother, Sandra Bush. There is an homage to former lovers and friends. There is a recurring chorus of muses who kind of accompany us through the different thematic rooms of the exhibition," she says.

In addition to painting, photography and collage, visitors will see site-specific work and a video installation.

Mussai says the exhibition is really "an invitation to be transformed" by the presence of Thomas' artworks.

"And I'm hoping that visitors will feel that same sense of both empowerment but also a sense of nourishment," she says. "Immersed and accompanied by this chorus of powerful, strong, beautiful women."

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love is on view through January 12, 2025 at the Barnes Foundation.

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love | Tickets
Barnes Foundation
2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, PA 19130