US/EN
Muse: Mickalene Thomas: Photographs
Description
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.Product Details
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About the Author
Reviews
A luscious portfolio that is almost classical in its settings and gestures and yet also startlingly unrestrained.--Isabel Flower "Bookforum "
The large-scale portraits in "Muse: Mickalene Thomas Photographs" (Aperture) which publishes this autumn, combines aspects of classical odalisque paintings with those of fashion photography of the 1970s Black is Beautiful-era (when her mother was a model), among other influences, to examine race, sexuality, the artist s gaze, and the construction of images. "Advocate"
Like a combination of Malick Sidibe s studio portraits of Milian youth and 70s blaxploitation films, Mickalene Thomas s photographs of black women are visually dynamic and positively genuine. "Art News"
Provides the first overview of her dazzling series of photographs featuring black women "Harper's Bazaar"
Thomas revels in a theatrical form of feminine display. "The New Yorker" photo booth
Mama Bush s beauty is indelibly preserved in her daughter s ideal photographic images, enduring memorials to her mother, the pivotal muse in her work, her mirror reflecting a gaze between two women, and the self. "The New Yorker" photo booth
Thomas is a playful and intense explorer of the self-preservation of beautiful women. "The New York Times Magazine"
The black skin of these glammed-up superheroes is often the only thing in these photos that is not a riot of ornament and color, but blackness as photographed by Thomas is a riot all its own. "The New York Times Magazine"
She s created a vast body of portraits that critically deconstruct definitions of beauty, race, and gender specifically for black women&mdash: and redefine them on her own terms "The New York Times" "
The large-scale portraits in Muse: Mickalene Thomas Photographs (Aperture) which publishes this autumn, combines aspects of classical odalisque paintings with those of fashion photography of the 1970s Black is Beautiful-era (when her mother was a model), among other influences, to examine race, sexuality, the artist s gaze, and the construction of images. Advocate
Like a combination of Malick Sidibe s studio portraits of Milian youth and 70s blaxploitation films, Mickalene Thomas s photographs of black women are visually dynamic and positively genuine. Art News
Provides the first overview of her dazzling series of photographs featuring black women Harper's Bazaar
Thomas revels in a theatrical form of feminine display. The New Yorker photo booth
Mama Bush s beauty is indelibly preserved in her daughter s ideal photographic images, enduring memorials to her mother, the pivotal muse in her work, her mirror reflecting a gaze between two women, and the self. The New Yorker photo booth
Thomas is a playful and intense explorer of the self-preservation of beautiful women. The New York Times Magazine
The black skin of these glammed-up superheroes is often the only thing in these photos that is not a riot of ornament and color, but blackness as photographed by Thomas is a riot all its own. The New York Times Magazine
She s created a vast body of portraits that critically deconstruct definitions of beauty, race, and gender specifically for black women&mdash: and redefine them on her own terms The New York Times"
