Friday, December 20, 12 – 1pm
Mickalene Thomas. Clarivel Face Forward Gazing (detail), 2024. Collection of Mickalene Thomas. © 2024 Mickalene Thomas
Free; registration required.
About the Talk
Deborah Willis: “Mickalene Thomas: Loving History”
On-Site & Online Talk | Member Appreciation Days
This presentation reconsiders how contemporary artists like Mickalene Thomas reference both iconic art historical images and memories of home in their work. Artist and professor Deborah Willis calls this scholarly and artistic pursuit “an experience of borrowing” on the part of artists—taking fresh looks at art from another time and providing a nuanced perspective. She will discuss the complexity of an active gaze that questions the past and present.
Mickalene Thomas. Clarivel Face Forward Gazing, 2024. Collection of Mickalene Thomas. © 2024 Mickalene Thomas
Speaker
Deborah Willis
Willis is professor and chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she teaches courses on photography, iconicity, and cultural histories visualizing the Black body, women, and gender. She is also director of the Center for Black Visual Culture at NYU’s Institute of African American Affairs. As an artist, Willis has received a MacArthur Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among other honors.
Go Further
Members-Only Tour: Mickalene Thomas: All About Love
This exclusive exhibition tour provides a closer look at Thomas’s vivid and multifaceted artworks
Member Appreciation Days
This December, members get even more—join us for exclusive talks and extra discounts.
Member Appreciation Talk: John Barelli on Art Theft
Hear the stories behind real-life art crimes with John Barelli, former chief security officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.