NYC painter brings art inspired by Black female erotica imagery to Chelsea show
New York-based visual artist and painter Mickalene Thomas, who is known for embellishing her portraits of Black women with rhinestones and acrylic, currently has two shows running in the tristate area.That show includes 18th and 19th century portraits of African Americans, miniatures and silhouettes on paper, placed in rooms of the era and juxtaposed with modern pieces like Sula Bermúdez's 2021 replica of her childhood dollhouse, but made of sugar.
I think it was probably one of the first times I felt like, "Oh, this is beauty. Oh, these are beautiful Black women on this page." That excited me. Absolutely. I think that was important. It was known as the “Black Bible.” If you didn't have it on your table or in your home, I think Black families would look at you like something was wrong with you.
Once I found this, what excited me was that some of the images felt very sculptural, but also about a different type of desire from the gaze of the photographer, Giamatti. For me, even though these images really fall in the middle, in some sense, because of how they were portrayed and what these images were for. We have to be real. They were...Meant for someone else's pleasure, but they were monthlies. They were calendars and they were displayed nude. But what I found really fascinating about the images, specifically the ones from the '70s, is that there was also this uncomfortable way in which the women were portrayed and also the photographers.
But the fact that you also know a little of the history of Rose Prentice is, for me, very empowering and a testament to some of the dynamics of the relationships and complexities that we have with Black and white families.
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