PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.- Palm Springs Art Museum presents Mapping the Female Body: Tom Wesselmann & Mickalene Thomas from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation on view from November 22, 2025, through April 6, 2026. Curated by Christine Vendredi, JoAnn McGrath Executive Director, the exhibition explores how two influential artists have portrayed the female nude and challenged its place in art history. Supported by the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation and the Harold C Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation.

Bringing together different generations and perspectives, the exhibition reflects on how women’s bodies are represented in visual culture, juxtaposing Wesselmann’s iconic images of the female form from the 1960s and 1970s with Thomas’ recent bold and layered portrayals of women of color.

The exhibition features a significant new work by Thomas l’espace entre les deux, shown only once at the 2025 IFPDA Print Fair in New York. Two large rooms constructed as a living collage of paper- pulp sculpture, collages, silkscreens, and three-dimensional cast paper works evoke the feeling of entering one of Thomas’s iconic living rooms. Plants, lamps, carpeting, books and furniture made of paper in many forms inhabit all planes of the space. In Thomas’s playful, investigatory approach to material results in something akin to a living collage, which creates a new conversation with the selection of framed collages displayed within the space.

“By placing Wesselmann and Thomas in dialogue, the exhibition examines how artists from different backgrounds and eras address questions of power, representation, and agency,” said Christine Vendredi, JoAnn McGrath Executive Director of Palm Springs Art Museum. “This exhibition also reintroduces historical references and highlights lesser-known women artists, encouraging visitors to consider not just how women’s bodies have been depicted, but also who gets to shape those narratives.”

Wesselmann’s work captures the contradictions of an era defined by shifting cultural attitudes around gender and sexuality, blending glamour with critique in complex reflections on beauty, desire, and control. Thomas, a queer woman of color, reframes the tradition of the nude by representing women of color with strength, beauty, and confidence. Using rhinestones, vibrant color, and layered materials, she celebrates individuality and presence, drawing from both art history and popular culture.

“Growing up surrounded by art, I learned early on that the most powerful works are the ones that make us feel, make us question and reflect. The Female Form: Tom Wesselmann & Mickalene Thomas brings together two artists whose work has done just that for me, time and again,” said ARTnews Top 200 art collector, Jordan D. Schnitzer. “Bringing these two artists together in one exhibition is not about comparing or contrasting. It is about creating a conversation between eras, between perspectives, and between viewers.”

The Female Form: Tom Wesselmann & Mickalene Thomas from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation Opens This November situates both artists within the broader legacy of female representation, from Renaissance traditions to contemporary reinterpretations, and offers visitors the opportunity to reflect on how perspectives of the female nude continue to evolve.