Muse: Mickalene Thomas Photographs and tête-à-tête

Beauty and what it means to be a woman

This exhibition of more than 40 works by the acclaimed African American artist Mickalene Thomas also includes a selection of works by artists who inspired her: Derrick Adams, Renée Cox, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Lyle Ashton Harris, Deana Lawson, Zanele Muholi, Malick Sidibé, Xaviera Simmons, Hank Willis Thomas and Carrie Mae Weems. Thomas is well known for her paintings encrusted with rhinestones, but she has worked in photography since she was a graduate student at Yale more than two decades ago. Her photographs draw on a wide range of influences — from art history to popular culture, from Henri Matisse’s odalisques to images of 1970s supermodel Beverly Johnson — but they all focus on beauty and what it means to be a woman.

This exhibition is organized by Aperture Foundation, New York.