Artworks

Afro Goddess with Hand Between Legs, 2006

  • Artist

    Mickalene Thomas

  • Title

    Afro Goddess with Hand Between Legs

  • Date

    2006

  • Medium

    Chromogenic color print

  • Dimensions

    16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Frame: 18 1/8 × 21 1/2 × 1 in. (46 × 54.6 × 2.5 cm)

  • Edition

    Edition 5/6

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee

  • Object Number

    2007.6.3

Mickalene Thomas’s work draws from Western art history to examine and redefine beauty, race, gender, and sexuality. Best known for her complex paintings made of rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel, Thomas frequently references the 1970s through images from blaxploitation films and Ebony and Jet magazines, as well as materials such as vibrant fabrics. Alluding to a period in which Black female identity in popular media was often eroticized, her photographs serve as spaces for validation and self-reflection. Through her work, Thomas asserts that women are most powerful when they are in control of their sexuality.


Explore further
Artworks

Afro Goddess with Hand Between Legs, 2006

  • Artist

    Mickalene Thomas

  • Title

    Afro Goddess with Hand Between Legs

  • Date

    2006

  • Medium

    Chromogenic color print

  • Dimensions

    16 × 20 in. (40.6 × 50.8 cm) Frame: 18 1/8 × 21 1/2 × 1 in. (46 × 54.6 × 2.5 cm)

  • Edition

    Edition 5/6

  • Credit line

    The Studio Museum in Harlem; Museum purchase with funds provided by the Acquisition Committee

  • Object Number

    2007.6.3

Mickalene Thomas’s work draws from Western art history to examine and redefine beauty, race, gender, and sexuality. Best known for her complex paintings made of rhinestones, acrylic, and enamel, Thomas frequently references the 1970s through images from blaxploitation films and Ebony and Jet magazines, as well as materials such as vibrant fabrics. Alluding to a period in which Black female identity in popular media was often eroticized, her photographs serve as spaces for validation and self-reflection. Through her work, Thomas asserts that women are most powerful when they are in control of their sexuality.


Explore further