DESCRIPTION

The first comprehensive monograph on Mickalene Thomas, a key figure in 21st-century contemporary art

Over the past two decades, Mickalene Thomas's critically acclaimed and extensive body of work has spanned painting, collage, photography, video, and the immersive installations that have become her signature. With influences ranging from nineteenth-century painting to popular culture, Thomas's art articulates a complex and empowering vision of aspiration and self-image through gender and race while expanding on and subverting common definitions of beauty, sexuality, and celebrity. This book, made in close collaboration with Thomas, is the first to survey the breadth of her extraordinary career. Publication coincides with the opening of Mickalene Thomas's first global exhibition, Beyond the Pleasure Principle, at Lévy Gorvy galleries in New York, London, Paris, Hong Kong, and Galerie Nathalie Obadia, Paris.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Roxane Gay is a writer, memoirist, and contributor to the New York Times. She is the author of several books, including Hunger and Bad Feminist.

Kellie Jones is Hans Hofmann Professor of Modern Art in the Departments of Art History & Archaeology, and African American & African Diaspora Studies at Columbia University. She has authored several books and curated exhibitions including Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-1980.

REVIEWS

"​​A powerful retrospective of one of the most versatile and influential creatives today." - Elle Decor

"Insightful texts and rich reproductions of Thomas's efforts." - ARTnews

"Thomas's first comprehensive monograph... shows how the artist, a queer, Black woman, engages deeply with gender and race." - Publishers Weekly

“Exquisite.” – Cool Hunting 

“Beautiful.” – Chicago Tribune 

“Thomas’s first comprehensive monograph ... shows how the artist, a queer, Black woman, engages deeply with gender and race.” – Publishers Weekly 

“Thomas crafts a world of aspiration and confidence.” – LA Weekly