Black Beauties

American artist Mickalene Thomas, who has changed the way we look at Black bodies, is presenting her life’s work in New York, London, Paris and Hong Kong this autumn

- Zabrina Lo

Walking through the corridor of Mickalene Thomas’s studio in Brooklyn is like being transported to a mini version of the sort of collection of African American art you expect to see at a big gallery. At least, that’s how it feels as Thomas’s business manager, Susan Grogan, takes me on a tour of the space during a video call in late August. But far from being the servants and erotic figures so often seen in such exhibitions, the Black women in Thomas’s paintings are strong, elegant figures covered in vibrant colors and glittering rhinestones. Draped in fashionable fabrics and at times topless, these models, with their steady gaze and self-assertive poses, exude confidence which both causes viewers to become transfixed and compels them to shy away. Since her 2009 debut, her provocative works have stunned the art world, exalting femininity and LGBTQ and Black identities, and examining how Black bodies, especially women’s, are represented in art.