PARIS.- The Grand Palais is dedicating a major monographic exhibition to American artist Mickalene Thomas (born 1971 in New York) entitled All About Love.

Recognized worldwide for her bold, multidimensional practice, Mickalene Thomas explores the visibility and representation of Black women in art, history, and popular culture. Through a vibrant synthesis of painting, collage, photography, video, and installation, she reimagines classical portraiture with a distinctly queer and Black feminist perspective.

At the core of Mickalene Thomas’s work is love – as a force of liberation, self affirmation, and joy. Drawing inspiration from bell hooks’s seminal text All About Love: New Visions (1999), the exhibition celebrates love’s power to transform both personal and collective life.

All About Love honors the agency, beauty, and resilience of Black women. Mickalene Thomas’s subjects – friends, family, lovers, and cultural icons – are depicted with confidence, sensuality, and grace, reclaiming the spaces from which they have historically been excluded. Her lush, rhinestone - studded compositions invite viewers into worlds where pleasure becomes political and representation becomes radical.

Mickalene Thomas’s practice often reinterprets and disrupts of canonical moments in European – and particularly French – art history. Works referencing masterpieces such as Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe (1863) and Ingres’s La Grande Odalisque (1814) are reimagined through a contemporary lens of empowerment, positioning Black women at the center of the narrative.

All About Love, invites audiences to enter a universe of love, leisure, and liberation - spaces where beauty, intimacy, and self-possession redefine the art historical gaze.

Following acclaimed exhibitions at The Broad (Los Angeles), The Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia), Hayward Gallery (London), and Les Abattoirs (Toulouse), this retrospective is the most ambitious presentation of Mickalene Thomas’s work in Paris. “I am deeply humbled and profoundly honored to present my work at the Grand Palais – an institution that holds such an important place in the history of art. To stand here as a Black queer woman, and to share All About Love in this space, is both a personal and collective moment of triumph. This exhibition is a testament to the power of representation, resilience, and love.” -- Mickalene Thomas

Mickalene Thomas (1971, New York)

Mickalene Thomas is a groundbreaking multidisciplinary artist celebrated for her vibrant, rhinestone-studded portraits that challenge and redefine the representation of Black women in contemporary art. Her dynamic practice—spanning painting, collage, photography, video, and installation—explores the layered complexities of identity, race, gender, and beauty. Drawing inspiration from 1970s aesthetics, African textiles, pop culture, and art history, Thomas constructs bold, textured compositions that reclaim and elevate Black femininity, creating new spaces for visibility, power, and self-expression.

Thomas’s work is deeply rooted in reimagining portraiture and pushing the boundaries of visual storytelling. With each piece, she interrogates and dismantles Eurocentric beauty standards while celebrating the strength, sensuality, and individuality of her subjects. Her art is held in the permanent collections of major institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Smithsonian. Beyond the studio, Thomas is a Tony-nominated co-producer, educator, mentor, and curator committed to fostering inclusivity in the arts.

She actively supports emerging artists and curates exhibitions that amplify underrepresented voices. In 2023, she made history as the first Black queer femme artist to have a scholarship endowed in her name at Yale University.

Her influence continues to expand—earning recognition in 2025 as one of TIME100’s Most Influential People and receiving honors from Creative Capital, the Hirshhorn Museum, and the Queens Museum. Through her bold vision and cultural leadership, Thomas is reshaping the future of art.

Mickalene Thomas is represented by the Nathalie Obadia Gallery.