Duke Ellington once said: "Certain artists are beyond category" and this is particularly true for New York-based artist Mickalene Thomas (b. 1971, New Jersey). An undeniable force within the contemporary art world, and an indispensable inspiration to a younger generation of artists, her innovative and playful practice has yielded instantly recognisable and widely celebrated aesthetic languages. Proclaiming and expanding the visibility of black women within the canon of Western art history is at the heart of Thomas’s practice, which she does by eloquently dissecting the intersecting complexities of Black and female sexuality, identity, power, and beauty. And she does it in the boldest ways possible: With sparkly rhinestones, jewel-tone acrylic paint, and a hodgepodge of retro prints, all on sprawling canvases that command attention. Often drawing on an eclectic roster of references, often blurring the distinction between object and subject, concrete and abstract, real and imaginary. 

Thomas has enjoyed solo exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, the Bass Museum in Miami, the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, among other institutions. At auction, Thomas’s work can command upwards of seven figures. Along with her fine-art practice, Thomas has shot for such publications as W, Out, and T: The New York Times Style Magazine. She has also constructed elaborate installations to showcase her works. She has also been awarded multiple prizes and grants, including the Pratt Institute Legends Award (2022), Rema Hort Mann Foundation 25th Anniversary Honoree (2022), Artistic Impact Award, Newark Museum (2022) and many more.

“ All of my experiences modeling, acting, doing theater, it's all in the work now. And the work freed me to transform myself „

—Mickalene Thomas