Aperture is pleased to present a 2 very special limited-edition Mickalene Thomas boxsets, comprised of a limited edition photograph and a specially bound signed copy of MUSE. These editions are available at Aperture
Mickalene Thomas, Le déjeuner sur l’herbe: les trois femmes noires, 2016
'MUSE' Book 156 pages, 85 color and duotone images Hardcover, 10 x 13 inches
Including a pigment print 'Le déjeuner sur l’herbe: les trois femmes noires'
Image Size: 11 x 14 inches
Signed and numbered by the artist
Edition of 5 and 2 artist's proofs
Price: $10,000
*Price to increase as edition sells through
In “Le déjeuner sur l’herbe: les trois femmes noires” (2010), Thomas transforms Edouard Manet’s notorious canvas (1862-3) into a collaged photograph, as well as a large-scale rhinestone-encrusted mural. Thomas has replaced Manet’s scandalizing dressed men and naked women with three black women who gaze directly at the viewer, dressed to the nines in sundresses, hoop earrings, and full make-up. Of the photograph, Thomas said, “When I was looking through the lens and trying to compose the image I wanted to have the depth of field that Manet has with the woman in the background, and it created that same environment with the Matisse sculpture taking the place of the fourth figure. Everything fell into place. Everything felt right. I didn’t have to try reconstructing things or forcing things. I saw it and I responded and it worked.”
Mickalene Thomas, A moment's pleasure in black and white, 2006/8
'MUSE' Book 156 pages, 85 color and duotone images Hardcover, 10 x 13 inches
Including a pigment print 'A moment's pleasure in black and white'
Image Size: 11 x 14 inches
Signed and numbered by the artist
Edition of 5 and 2 artist's proofs
Price: $10,000
*Price to increase as edition sells through
About the book 'MUSE':
Mickalene Thomas, known for her large-scale, multi-textured, and rhinestone-encrusted paintings of domestic interiors and portraits, has also identified the photographic image as a defining touchstone for her practice. Thomas first began to photograph herself and her mother as a student at Yale—a pivotal experience for her as an artist. While working across multiple series, much of her photographic work functions as a personal act of deconstruction and reappropriation—both of images she has created herself and images she has singled out as influence. With each series, she grapples with and asserts new definitions of beauty and inspiration. Thomas’s portraits draw equally from 1970s black-is-beautiful images of women such as supermodel Beverly Johnson and actress Vonetta McGee; Édouard Manet’s odalisque figures; and the mise-en-scène studio portraiture of James Van Der Zee and Malick Sidibé, to mention a few. Perhaps of greatest importance, however, this collection of portraits and staged scenes reflects a very personal community of inspiration as well—a collection of muses that includes herself, her mother, and her friends and lovers, emphasizing the communal and social aspects of art-making and creativity that pervade her work. This volume is the first to gather together her various approaches to photography, including portraits, collages, Polaroids, and other processes, and will be the foundation for a major traveling exhibition of the work to launch in 2015.
