Muse Mickalene Thomas photographs

• Main Author: Thomas, Mickalene 1971- (Author, Photographer)
• Other Authors: Blessing, Jennifer (Editor), Weems, Carrie Mae 1953- (Editor)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: New York Aperture Foundation 2015
• Subjects: Thomas, Mickalene > 1971-; African American women > Pictorial works.; African American women in art; Portrait photography > 21st century > United States; Photography, Artistic > 21st century
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.
• Item Description: Essay by Jennifer Blessing
• Physical Description: 151 pages illustrations (chifly colour, portraits) 34 cm.
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references
• ISBN: 9781597113144

Mickalene Thomas, known for her large-scale, multitextured and rhinestone-encrusted paintings of domestic interiors and portraits, identifies the photographic image as a defining touchstone for her practice. Thomas began to photograph herself and her mother as a student at Yale, studying under David Hilliard-a pivotal experience for her as an artist. This volume is the first to gather together her various approaches to photography, including portraits, collages, Polaroids and other processes. The work is a personal act of deconstruction and reappropriation. Working primarily in her studio, Thomas' portraits draw equally from memories of her mother, 1970s black-is-beautiful images of women such as supermodel Beverly Johnson and actress Vonetta McGee, Édouard Manet's odalisque figures and the mise-en-scène studio portraiture of James Van Der Zee and Malick Sidibé. The interior space of her studio, a reappearing character in many of her photographs and paintings, frequently takes on as much of a performative role as her models do. The space exudes a thick, cozy physicality from its layers of fur, rugs, wood paneling and multipatterned linoleum tiles-all of which are richly laden with sensory triggers of a 1970s American rumpus room.