Mickalene Thomas

Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971) is an American artist exploring the intersection of popular culture and art history through a contemporary Black female gaze. As an openly gay Black woman, sexuality and race are essential themes in Thomas' practice. Her subjects, or muses, emanate an air of confidence or nonchalance and are often surrounded by abstract or patterned elements from an array of sources and eras. Elements of Blaxploitation, Pop Art, Cubism, Dadaism, and even Renaissance art appear in her work.