Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
Mickalene Thomas’ All About Love at the Hayward Gallery is a celebration that brings a loving gaze to the representation of black women. Thomas’ enormous paintings of her friends, family, lovers and models are embellished with rhinestones, allowing the artist to redefine contemporary portraiture. She brings them to a new light - relaxed, carefree and joyous. The name of this exhibition comes from Bell Hooks’ All About Love: New Visions, a 1999 novel in which she explores love in the new age, a modern setting confronted by capitalism, racist and sexist stereotypes and endless materialism. Thomas further explores love as a historically strained relationship with many caveats, specifically for black women. She responds to Hooks’ idea that - “unless we transform images of blackness, of black people, our ways of looking and our ways of being seen, we cannot make radical interventions that will fundamentally alter our situation” - by reclaiming the black female body and empowering it with refreshed and endless love.
“A man has always wanted to lay me down but never wanted to pick me up”, says Eartha Kitt, an American actress and singer, in a BBC interview with Ronnie Williams broadcast on 10 March 1971. In the interview, Kitt describes growing up in poverty on a cotton plantation in South Carolina with nothing to eat for “an insurmountable amount of time”. While Thomas only uses a small section of the audio from this interview, its presence in the exhibition brings to light the abuse and racism Kitt experienced throughout her life. Thomas includes Kitt, saying that the men “who had real love and affection” for her were the ones who “never touched” her. This emphasis on the body, complemented by the video featuring Thomas in the nude, brings focus to the sexual commodification of black women.
On top of a mat that looks like a collage of various shades of brown and grey is a padded bench decorated in many prints. Something is comforting about these bold prints. They look almost like an old sofa that has been in the room for many years and invite the audience to sit and watch the video. By inviting the viewer’s gaze, she subverts the sexual and exploitative gaze that has generally been cast upon bodies like hers.
The video also includes a photographic image of Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman from Southwestern Africa who was exploited and forcefully displayed in 19th-century European exhibitions under the stage name Hottentot Venus. Baartman’s brain, skeleton and sexual organs were also set to have remained on display in a Parisian museum till 1974. By including Baartman’s image, Thomas points to a history of colonial violence, oppression and sexual exploitation of black women. In 2023, Somerset House’s Black Venus- Reclaiming Black Women in Visual Culture also explored the gaze black women have been subjected to. Building on that past, Thomas’ large paintings of black women in bold colours, vibrant prints and full of glitter capture a different gaze, one “of a Black woman unapologetically loving other Black women,” she says. By doing so, Thomas addresses the continuous trauma while channelling nothing but love.
One of Thomas’ early works also includes a vibrant collage created for Solange’s extended play cover of True. In the centre of the cover is a cut-out of Solange herself wearing colourful prints and dazzling shoes, a style representative of Thomas’ work, which usually features a large-scale painting of a real woman surrounded by prints and glitter. This exhibition focuses on recreating her childhood from the 1970s to the 1980s, with beads on the doorway between rooms, soft jazz playing in the rooms, and a captivating tableau of her mother at the entrance. Instead of mapping Thomas’ life, it enters it.
Thomas is heavily inspired by Black female artists and writers, including Alice Walker’s The Colour Purple, which is depicted in a 2016 portrait titled Celie. Using silkscreen ink, acrylic ink and a mirror, Thomas creates an image of Whoopi Goldberg from the 1985 film adaptation of the book. The exhibition examines black representation in films, books, and pop culture and explores the many facets of their identities that are often ignored. With grandiose canvases, vibrant prints and bold colours, Thomas depicts black women enjoying life, hoping to bring forward a refreshed form of representation.
.png)
.png)
.svg){kind=logo}
