Mickalene Thomas

Pioneering portraitist and artist

Mickalene Thomas is an American artist born in 1971 in Jackson, Mississippi. She is known for her large-scale paintings of Black women, adorned with vivid patterns and rhinestones. Thomas is a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has exhibited her work internationally. She is also a prominent figure in the art world, known for her innovative use of collage techniques and her celebration of Blac...