Mickalene Thomas has been getting into neon. But then, the artist is constantly exploring new materials and methods, which is why her practice includes painting, collage, sculpture, printmaking, photography and video.
Now the scope of her work will be captured by a sweeping exhibition here at the Broad, “Mickalene Thomas: All About Love,” which opens May 25.
Well before the current market craze over Black figuration, Thomas was exploring the Black female figure. “It’s difficult to understand from where we are now how radical her work was when I first showed it,” said the Los Angeles gallerist Susanne Vielmetter, who gave Thomas one of her first solo shows in 2007. “I cannot think of a single artist who at that time was making portraiture of female Black figures from a perspective of female desire.”