Mickalene Thomas’s Internationally Touring Solo Show “All About Love” to Open at Major US and UK Institutions

The Broad, Los Angeles (May 25–September 29, 2024) • The Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia (October 20, 2024–January 12, 2025) • Hayward Gallery, London (February 11–May 5, 2025)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 30, 2023

Mickalene Thomas: All About Love will be the first major international tour of this pioneering artist’s work whose influences range from 19th-century painting to popular culture. Co-organized by the Hayward Gallery, London, and The Broad, Los Angeles, and in partnership with the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia, All About Love will be shown as a series of independent presentations, with further venues to be confirmed.

Thomas's art articulates a complex and empowering vision of self while expanding on and subverting common definitions of beauty, sexuality, celebrity, and politics. The show will highlight how Thomas has redefined contemporary ideas of portraiture and subjects, introducing new ways of seeing the female body and dissecting the complexities of Black and female identity within the Western canon.

Through her work, Thomas subverts art history to reclaim notions of love, desire, and repose. She draws on representations of intergenerational female empowerment, autobiography, memory, and tenets of Black feminist theory in writing by authors and academics such as Kimberlé Crenshaw, Patricia Collins, and bell hooks, whose acclaimed 2000 essay collection All About Love is referenced in the exhibition’s title. This exhibition will explore the ways in which Thomas’s work draws on relationships and collaborations centered on love, self-expression, and joy.

Artist Mickalene Thomas, says: “The opportunity to showcase and tour my work across these leading art institutions marks a key milestone in my career as an artist. Each presentation uniquely navigates through the nuances of my work while cohesively investigating notions and topics at the core of my artistic practice. I am grateful for this incredible platform staged in cultural epicenters in the US and the UK and confident about the long-lasting impact of this show on a broader audience internationally."

Rachel Thomas, Chief Curator at the Hayward Gallery, says:“The Hayward Gallery is delighted to lead the first major UK solo exhibition of pioneering artist Mickalene Thomas. The exhibition will explore how Thomas's art articulates a complex and empowering vision of womanhood while subverting common notions of beauty, sexuality, fame, and more. We are excited to join forces with other leading organizations to bring the exhibition to audiences internationally, sparking new thinking and dialogue in London and beyond.”

Ed Schad, Curator at The Broad, says: “We are proud to launch this major exhibition in Los Angeles, a city with many individual and institutional supporters of Thomas’s work and a demonstrated commitment to her important voice in contemporary art. In collaboration with our partners, The Broad is excited to trace Thomas’s work over two decades, as it has aimed a loving and empowered lens towards a radical rethinking of many pivotal themes and crisis points in art history.”

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NOTES TO EDITORS

About the Hayward Gallery
The Hayward Gallery, part of the Southbank Centre, has a long history of presenting work by the world's most adventurous and innovative artists including major solo shows by both emerging and established artists and dynamic group exhibitions. Opened by Queen Elizabeth II in July 1968, the gallery is one of the few remaining buildings of its style. The Brutalist building was designed by a group of young architects, including Dennis Crompton, Warren Chalk and Ron Herron and is named after Sir Isaac Hayward, a former leader of the London County Council.

About The Broad
The Broad is a contemporary art museum founded in 2015 by philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad on Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles. The museum offers free general admission and presents an active program of rotating temporary exhibitions and innovative audience engagement, all within a landmark building designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with Gensler. The Broad is home to the Broad collection, which is one of the world’s leading collections of postwar and contemporary art. The 120,000-square-foot building features two floors of gallery space and is the headquarters of The Broad Art Foundation’s worldwide lending library, which has been loaning collection works to museums around the world since 1984.

For news and updates, sign up for email newsletters at thebroad.org or follow The Broad on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, or YouTube.

About the Barnes Foundation
The Barnes Foundation is a nonprofit cultural and educational institution that shares its unparalleled art collection with the public, organizes special exhibitions, and presents programming that fosters new ways of thinking about human creativity. The Barnes collection is displayed in ensembles that integrate art and objects from across cultures and time periods, overturning traditional hierarchies and revealing universal elements of human expression. Home to one of the world’s finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist, and modern paintings—including the largest groups of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne in existence—the Barnes brings together renowned canvases by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh, alongside African, Asian, ancient, medieval, and Native American art as well as metalwork, furniture, and decorative art. More information.

Contacts:
Eva Seta, Director of Marketing and Communications (The Broad), eseta@thebroad.org
Darius Sabbaghzadeh (The Broad), darius@hellothirdeye.com
Deirdre Maher, Director of Communications (The Barnes Foundation), dmaher@barnesfoundation.org
Laura Gosney, Press Manager (Hayward Gallery), laura.gosney@southbankcentre.co.uk
Eve-Marie Kuijstermans (Mickalene Thomas), eve-marie.kuijstermans@purplepr.com