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Portraits of intimacy: the muses of Mickalene Thomas
Mickalene Thomas celebrates Black women through intimate, sensual and powerful portraits. In large-scale works, her friends, lovers and icons become both muses and the protagonists of their own image.
The All About Love exhibition currently on show at the Grand Palais reveals the vibrant universe of the African-American artist, born in 1971. Her works, combining painting, photography, collage and video, explore love, desire and self-affirmation. Each portrait elevates her subjects, offering them a space of power and freedom.
The women Mickalene Thomas paints mostly come from her circle of friends, family, or lovers, with only a few professional models. She often works for extended periods with the same individuals, whom she calls her “muses,” admiring their deep connection to their own beauty.
Vue de l'exposition « Mickalene Thomas, All About Love », Les déesses noires, au Grand Palais, Paris
In the Black Goddesses room, her loved ones pose in domestic settings recreated by the artist, revealing the beauty and strength of their intimacy. Photographs and collages extend this dialogue, celebrating fashion and African-American culture as instruments of self-affirmation.
Among her muses are her mother, Sandra Bush, as well as figures of Black culture and models she admires, such as singer Solange Knowles, artist Carrie Mae Weems, and icons Whoopi Goldberg, Diahann Carroll and Eartha Kitt.
Vue de l'exposition « Mickalene Thomas, All About Love », Shrine, au Grand Palais, Paris
The Shrine (2024) installation is a key moment in the exhibition. Conceived as a personal space of devotion, it brings together images, objects and texts dear to Thomas, offering visitors a place for contemplation at the heart of the artist's and her muses’ intimacy. It's a space where the link between inspiration, memory and affection becomes tangible.
Vue de l'exposition « Mickalene Thomas, All About Love », Les Lutteuses, au Grand Palais, Paris
The Brawlin Spitfire Wrestlers series (2005-2007) explores the multiple facets of the artist's identity through female figures in struggle. These embracing bodies blend eroticism, power and tension, blurring the lines between pleasure and domination. Inspired by the Amazons, pop culture and classical iconography, Thomas uses motifs and poses to reaffirm the strength, confidence and autonomy of Black women, while challenging stereotypes inherited from history.
All About Love resonates intimacy, culture and history in a rich, assertive aesthetic. Mothers, friends, lovers and icons become so many muses that feed Mickalene Thomas's gaze and imagination, offering a unique celebration of the love, beauty and power of Black women. On view at the Grand Palais until April 5, 2026!
Creative Nocturne - Friday, March 13, 6:30-8:30pm
Free access with your ticket: come and discover the works of Mickalene Thomas through analysis and commentary provided by Sorbonne students. End your visit with a free creative workshop in the Salon Seine!
