Mickalene Thomas:
All About Love
October 20, 2024 – January 12, 2025
East Coast debut of first major international tour.
Mickalene Thomas. Afro Goddess Looking Forward (detail), 2015. Rhinestones, acrylic, and oil on wood panel. © 2024 Mickalene Thomas
Adults $30; seniors $28 (tickets good for 2 days); students $5; members free
About the Exhibition
Mickalene Thomas: All About Love is the first major international tour focused on the work of pioneering artist Mickalene Thomas (American, b. 1971), 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, All About Love will be shown as a series of independent presentations, with further venues to be confirmed.
The Barnes presentation of All About Love showcases a selection of vivid and multifaceted artworks—paintings, collage, photography, video, and site-specific installation—that celebrates Thomas’s distinctive artistic practice from the late 2000s to the present day. Her intricate mixed-media art is characterized by spectacularly staged, rhinestoned, large-scale painted tableaux and bold, intimate compositions, decisively foregrounding Black femininity in abundant realms of visual pleasure, agency, and kinship. Whether in imaginative dialogue with canonical works from the history of art or playfully reckoning with popular culture, Thomas’s exuberant portraits offer an empowered vision of beauty and desire, formulated through a sensual, Black feminist lens.
Venues
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)
Mickalene Thomas. Afro Goddess Looking Forward, 2015. Rhinestones, acrylic, and oil on wood panel. © 2024 Mickalene Thomas
Exhibition Organization
Mickalene Thomas: All About Love is co-organized by the Hayward Gallery, London, and The Broad, Los Angeles, and in partnership with the Barnes. The Barnes presentation is curated by independent curator and scholar Renée Mussai.
Related Programs
Member Previews
Thursday, October 17, 10 am–5 pm
Friday, October 18, 10 am–4 pm
Saturday, October 19, 10 am–5 pm
Members are invited to see Mickalene Thomas: All About Love before it opens.
Barnes Art Ball
Friday, October 18, 7 pm
Our annual fundraiser brings together artists, collectors, philanthropists, and community partners for a night of diverse and dynamic creative experiences. All About Love sets the tone and serves as the backdrop for this dazzling evening as we celebrate Mickalene Thomas.
Curators in Conversation
Sunday, October 20, 1 pm
On-site and online
Join us for an engaging talk with exhibition curator Renée Mussai and Nancy Ireson, Deputy Director for Collections and Exhibitions & Gund Family Chief Curator at the Barnes.
Exhibition Tours: All About Love
Daily, beginning October 24, 1 pm
Take an in-depth exhibition tour to learn more about Thomas’s work and practice.
Private Exhibition Tours: All About Love
Daily, beginning October 24, 1 pm
Book a private exhibition tour for up to eight guests to learn more about Thomas’s work and practice.
Members-Only Gallery Tours: All About Love
Thursdays, beginning October 24, 2–3 pm
Members are invited to attend exclusive exhibition tours.
Members-Only Online Tours: All About Love
October 30, November 13, and December 11, 2–3 pm
Members are invited to attend exclusive online exhibition tours.
Class: Mickalene Thomas, Visual Pleasure and Arts Activism
Thursdays, October 24–November 21, 2–3:30 pm
Take a deeper dive into Thomas’s career and influence with this online class taught by All About Love curator Rénee Mussai.
First Friday
November 1, December 6, January 3; 6–9 pm
Enjoy an evening of art, live music, and light fare on the first Friday of each month, with access to the collection and All About Love. Our November event features saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins; Yolanda Wisher & the Afroeaters perform in December and R&B singer Black Buttafly in January.
PECO Free First Sunday Family Day
November 3, December 1, January 5; 10 am–5 pm
On the first Sunday of every month, the Barnes partners with PECO to offer a free day of family fun. Along with art making, educational activities, and featured performances, the event includes complimentary access to the Barnes collection and All About Love.
All About Love: Second Saturday Film Series
November 9, December 14, January 11; 2 pm
Join us for a special three-part film series inspired by All About Love. Curated by BlackStar Film Festival founder Maori Karmael Holmes, this program includes feature-length and short films that explore themes of kinship, femininity, and desire. More information coming soon.
Young Professionals Night: All About Love
Friday, November 15, 7–10 pm
It’s time to shine! This fall’s edition of Barnes Young Professionals Night celebrates the emerging creatives who fuel Philly’s vibrant cultural scene and includes access to All About Love. More information coming soon.
Sponsors
Mickalene Thomas: All About Love at the Barnes is sponsored by:
Additional support is provided by Agnes Gund, Denise Littlefield Sobel, the Edna W. Andrade Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, Emily and Michael Cavanagh, Ralph Citino and Lawrence Taylor, Marianne N. Dean, Arthur M. Kaplan and R. Duane Perry, Sarah Morthland, Ogilvie Family Foundation, Dalila Wilson-Scott and S. Christopher Scott, Brenda A. and Larry D. Thompson, an anonymous donor, and other generous individuals.
Ongoing funding for exhibitions comes from the Christine and Michael Angelakis Exhibition Fund, the Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Exhibition Fund, the Lois and Julian Brodsky Exhibition Fund, the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, the Christine and George Henisee Exhibition Fund, the Aileen and Brian Roberts Exhibition Fund, and the Tom and Margaret Lehr Whitford Exhibition Fund.
In addition, funding for all exhibitions comes from contributors to the Barnes Foundation Exhibition Fund:
Joan Carter and John Aglialoro, Julia and David Fleischner, Victoria McNeil Le Vine, Leigh and John Middleton, Jeanette and Joe Neubauer
John Alchin and Hal Marryatt, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Lois and Julian Brodsky, N. Judith Broudy, Elaine W. Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr., Eugene and Michelle Dubay, Penelope P. Harris, Jones & Wajahat Family, Lisa D. Kabnick and John H. McFadden, Victor F. Keen and Jeanne Ruddy, Marguerite Lenfest, Maribeth and Steven Lerner, Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, The Park Family, Wendy and Mark Rayfield, Anne and Bruce Robinson, Adele K. Schaeffer, Katie and Tony Schaeffer, Donna and Jerry Slipakoff, Dr. and Mrs. Eugene E. Stark, Joan F. Thalheimer, Bruce and Robbi Toll, van Beuren Charitable Foundation, Kirsten White, Randi Zemsky and Bob Lane, Anonymous.
Go Further
Member Previews: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
As a member, see our latest exhibition before the public opening.
2024 Barnes Art Ball
Join us for our yearly celebration of art, community, and philanthropy.
Exhibition Tour: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
Take an in-depth exhibition tour to learn more about Mickalene Thomas’s work and practice.