Mickalene’s Muses

Mickalene Thomas. La leçon d’amour. 2008. © Mickalene Thomas. Courtesy of the artist; Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong; and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Malick Sidibé. Baptême. 2002. © Malick Sidibé. Courtesy of Malick Sidibé and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

Hank Willis Thomas. Look Natural. 1980, 2010. Courtesy of Hank Willis Thomas and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.

LaToya Ruby Frazier. Grandma Ruby Holding her Babies. 2002. Courtesy of the artist and Michel Rein, Paris/Brussels.

Derrick Adams. Crossroads. 2012. Courtesy of the artist.

Mickalene Thomas. Racquel Leaned Back. 2013. © Mickalene Thomas. Courtesy of the artist; Lehmann Maupin, New York and Hong Kong; and Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The University of Washington’s Henry Art Gallery is hosting “MUSE,” a show of Mickalene Thomas’s photographs, bringing the well-known painter’s photographic oeuvre to audiences in the Pacific Northwest. Thomas began making photographs of herself and her mother while a student at Yale, and has since created several series of photographs that emphasize her “personal community of inspiration” and the “communal and social aspects of art-making,” the museum notes in a statement. Her photographic work includes elaborately staged, performative portraits, and series of Polaroids
and more candid portraiture.

The exhibition highlights the direct connection between Thomas’s studio photographs and her paintings. For instance, Thomas’s image “La leçon d’amour” depicts two women, one lying across the lap of the other, on a couch surrounded by tapestries and rugs in a variety of colorful patterns; the photo inspired a painting of the same name. Another image on which a painting is based, “Le Dejeuner Sur L’Herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires,” depicts three beautifully dressed and made-up women sitting outdoors on colorful tapestries, surrounded by tropical flowers. The Henry Art Gallery exhibition also features two video installations and a replica of Thomas’s studio, where she’s created many of the scenes for her photographs and paintings.

As a companion to the exhibition of her images, Thomas has also curated a related exhibition, “tête-à-tête,” featuring photographs by artists who have influenced her. They include Derrick Adams, Renee Cox, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Deana Lawson, Zanele Muholi, Malick Sidibé, Xaviera Simmons, Hank Willis Thomas and Carrie Mae Weems.

Organized by the Aperture Foundation, the exhibition originally appeared in New York City in 2016, and a companion book collecting Thomas’s photographic work is also available.

—Conor Risch

“MUSE: Mickalene Thomas Photographs”
Through September 30, 2018
Henry Art Gallery
University of Washington
Seattle, WA