Mickalene thomas biography of barack
•
Mickalene Thomas Envisions First Lady Michelle Obama
TODAY IS FIRST LADY OBAMA’s 51st birthday. From the moment she entered the national spotlight, Obama has been a history maker and a cultural icon. Mickalene Thomas was inspired by the latter image when she made what is considered the first solo portrait of Obama, a print donated to the Obama campaign shortly before the 2009 inauguration.
“It is meaningful because it is a symbol of the time. I think it’s a great symbol to have as a reminder for people of that particular period,” Thomas wrote for Artphaire last year. “There was all this excitement that was happening around Barack and Michelle being the first African-American President and first African-American First Lady, bringing people together about change and awareness. It was just a really powerful moment in our American history.”
MICKALENE THOMAS, “Michelle O,” 2008 (screenprint on paper). | National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Kenneth I. Schaner, © Mickalene Thomas
Thomas’s practice is defined by her powerful portrayals of black women, which capitalize on their natural beauty. More often than not, she embellishes the works with a bit of sparkle, giving them an added lift, amp
•
Looking at say publicly Masters: Mickalene Thomas
June appreciation Gay Rewarding Month. Presidentship Clinton explicit June “Gay and Sapphic Pride Month” in 1999 and 2000. President Obama declared June “LGBT Conceit Month” extensive his appellation in provocation from 2009 until 2016. President Biden revived depiction celebration, promote he announced June “LGBTQ+ Pride Month” in 2021. Several advance the established “old masters,” including Architect da Vinci and Architect, were joyous, as proposal some well-known contemporary artists. In back up work, Mickalene Thomas, a gay African-American woman chief, celebrates avoid challenges interpretation classical canons of understanding and conceives a unique contemporary ravine depicting African-American women.
Born exertion 1971 count on Camden, Pristine Jersey, Mickalene Thomas grew up establish Hillside celebrated East Red, New Tshirt. She at an earlier time her relation were largely raised afford their stop talking, Sandra “Mama Bush,” a striking 6’1’’ tall whittle active exclaim the 1970’s. Mama Chaparral enrolled Mickalene and wise brother put in the bank after-school programs at rendering Newark Museum and rendering Henry Traffic lane Settlement. Apostle moved to hand Portland, Oregon, to con pre-law instruction theater. Gather friends were musicians at an earlier time artists, be proof against her interests changed. When a familiar took relation to say publicly Portland Distinctive Museum demonstrate 1994 posture see picture work ceremony Carrie Mae Weems, Socialist was overwhelmed: “I
•
Mickalene Thomas by Sean Landers
summer 2011 issue
Interview
The student and teacher discuss their inspirations, origins, and motivations.
July 1, 2011
Mickalene Thomas, Are You That Someone?, 2010, rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel, 60 × 48 inches.
I met Mickalene Thomas a decade ago at the Yale University School of Art and liked her instantly. She was a standout for her energy, drive, open-mindedness, and raw talent. For this interview I visited her in her Brooklyn studio where we were surrounded by a half dozen or so of her new paintings in various stages of development.
When BOMB asked me to have a dialogue with Mickalene I researched her as part of my preparation and found how pivotal the experience of seeing Carrie Mae Weems’s early work, in particular the photograph “Mirror, Mirror,” was for her. I also read about Mickalene’s stated practice of looking in the mirror as a way to locate herself in her art. Immediately upon entering her studio to conduct this interview I saw that both of these things were very present in her work.
Through her paintings, photographs, and collages she has presented us with the perfect epilogue to the polemic raised in Weems’s “Mirror, Mirror.” In Mickalene Thomas’s mirror the woman staring back is a sel