EXHIBITION “ALL ABOUT LOVE” BY MICKALENE THOMAS
“All About Love” is Mickalene Thomas’ first major international touring show. With over 80 pieces, the exhibition illustrates Thomas’s ongoing interest in celebrating Black female representation, as well as her range of materials and disciplines, including larger-scale mixed-media painting, immersive installation, collage, and photography.
Centered on the theme of love as a tool for healing, the show draws inspiration from the book of the same name by bell hooks. Throughout her practice, Thomas considers themes of sexuality and politics, as well as a close view of the legacy of portraiture in art history, in particular how Black bodies have traditionally been excluded. At times, she references specific artists and artworks, in particular 19th-century French paintings, to confront the systems of oppression portrayed in these works and pervasive in Western cultural narratives. The Broad’s debut of Mickalene Thomas: All About Love reflects some of the artist’s earliest inquiries into visual culture, sexuality, and memory, and move into the present.
On view until september 29 at The Broad, LA
221 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012
IMAGES IN COURTESY OF THE BROAD. PORTRAIT OF MICKALENE THOMAS BY MALIKE SIDIBE.
