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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Mickalene Thomas: Beyond the Pleasure Principle

Oct 7 – Nov 13, 2021
4 Passage Ste Avoye, 75003 Paris, France

In the work of American artist Mickalene Thomas, grainy black-and-white cutouts swim amid silkscreen prints, rhinestones, and images in oil paint—a mix inspired by modernist movements and the Harlem Renaissance. These dazzling multimedia collages make the power and beauty of Black women their primary subject. “To see yourself,” Thomas has explained, “and for others to see you, is a form of validation.” The exhibition will show in four chapters in Lévy Gorvy’s four galleries. The openings are staggered, with the third chapter on view in Paris. Paintings, installations, and video art express Thomas’s vision of positivity and pleasure. —E.C.

Mickalene Thomas, “Jet Blue #26,” 2021 © Mickalene Thomas / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.