Mickalene Thomas is the celebrated New York-based artist best known for her grand, dazzling multimedia portraits of Black women that exude glamour and intimacy. Her latest solo exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, All About Love, presents work from the past two decades of her career – a testament to a practice she describes as “rooted in love”.
The exhibition is a true spectacle, bringing together film, installation, large-scale paintings, and collages. One installation transforms the space into a 1970s-inspired living room – pulled from her mother’s Polaroids – while another area is adorned with plush carpets and wood panelling.
In the following conversation, Thomas speaks about the profound influence of her mother – her first muse – her enduring love for collage, and why she’s turning her lens toward men for the first time, following her recent portraits for Another Man.