Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas’s works at Rhona Hoffman are engaged with issues of race and gender. But unlike most identity artists, Thomas eroticizes her subjects. Her art is also gorgeous–especially the eight large paintings of African-American women, rendered in bright colors and covered with rhinestones, which are used like brushstrokes to add shine to clothing and furniture. Though Thomas used different models, all the figures are similarly bold, posed seductively and staring at the viewer; they’re both homogeneous and differentiated, subtly questioning the nature of black female identity but reaching no conclusions.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
Thomas discovered black women singers as a kid. “I was extremely infatuated with Whitney Houston,” she says. “I had Whitney Houston posters all over my bedroom and locker.” At about the same time she discovered Ebony magazine, which inspired her with its positive images of ordinary African-Americans: “They showed a range of different lifestyles, including middle-class working women and families.” She was also fascinated by Jet magazine’s “beauty of the week” contest, for which readers could submit photos–“A lot were college girls or housewives, strong, beautiful black women.” Her mom worked as a part-time model in addition to the social-service jobs she had, and Thomas modeled briefly as well.
