Mickalene Thomas at the Grand Palais — A Dazzling Rewriting of Art History -All About Love
Date: December 17, 2025 to April 5, 2026
Venue: Grand Palais, 17 Avenue du Général Eisenhower, 75008 Paris
Mickalene Thomas, a prominent American visual artist
Who is also a filmmaker, exhibition curator, and Tony‑nominated co‑producer, is renowned for her paintings, collages, photographs, videos, performances, and large‑scale installations.
When the Grand Palais chooses to dedicate a major exhibition to an artist, it is never by accident. And when that artist is Mickalene Thomas, the message is unmistakable: the canon of art history is shifting, expanding, and finally making room for voices long kept at its margins.
From December 17, 2025 to April 5, 2026, the Grand Palais presents All About Love, a sweeping retrospective of Thomas’s work — and a historic moment in itself. She becomes the first African‑American artist to receive such a large‑scale solo exhibition in this iconic Parisian institution.
People are never meant to fit inside the labels others assign to them. These labels are created by those who feel the need to categorize, but in truth, they are not only unhelpful — they are limiting. Instead of placing people into rigid definitions, we should imagine them in circles, open spaces that allow for movement, growth, and transformation.
Human beings are constantly evolving, learning, and becoming.
Throughout my life, I’ve been placed under many labels, each one trying to define who I should be. But I chose to unravel those expectations and step beyond them. I refused to let them shape my identity.
Breaking free from those constraints allowed me to embrace who I truly am — a person in continuous motion, always unfolding and redefining myself.
Thomas, born in 1971 in New York, has built an international reputation on a bold, multidimensional practice that blends painting, collage, photography, video, and immersive installations.
Her visual language is unmistakable: rhinestones, vibrant colors, layered textures, and unapologetic glamour.
But beneath the sparkle lies a profound political and cultural project — one that reclaims the representation of Black women in art, history, and popular culture.
All About Love
All About Love is not merely a retrospective; it is a declaration. Inspired by the writings of bell hooks, the exhibition positions love as a force of liberation, affirmation, and joy. Across more than two decades of creation, Thomas reimagines the classical portrait through a Black queer feminist lens, placing women who have long been excluded from the center of the narrative firmly back into the spotlight.
The exhibition unfolds like a visual manifesto. Her reinterpretations of Manet, Ingres, and other pillars of Western art history are not acts of rebellion but of reclamation — a rewriting of the canon with new protagonists, new aesthetics, and new truths.
Works such as Déjeuner sur l’herbe: Les Trois Femmes Noires become not only homages but corrections, restoring agency and presence to subjects historically denied both.
Walking through All About Love feels like entering a world where beauty, power, sensuality, and resilience coexist without contradiction.
Thomas’s women are muses, icons, goddesses — but above all, they are subjects, not objects.
They look back. They occupy space. They command it.
This exhibition is also a celebration of community. Thomas draws from her intimate circle — friends, lovers, family — transforming personal relationships into universal statements about identity, belonging, and representation.
Her work is glamorous, yes, but it is also deeply human.
For Paris, All About Love
For Paris, All About Love is more than an exhibition; it is a cultural event. For the Grand Palais, it is a milestone. And for the global art world, it is a reminder that the future of contemporary art is being shaped by voices that refuse to be overlooked.
Mickalene Thomas does not simply create images. She creates visibility. She creates memory. She creates space — for Black women, for queer identities, for new narratives, for new ways of seeing.
And in All About Love, she invites us all to step into that space.
Mickalene Thomas Contact:
Mickalene Thomas LLC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mickalenethomas/
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/mickalenethomasstudio
studio@mickalenethomas.com
Le Grand Palais
The Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts, often simply called the Grand Palais, is a Parisian landmark located along the edge of the Champs‑Élysées, directly facing the Petit Palais, from which it is separated by Avenue Winston‑Churchill in the 8th arrondissement. Its 77,000 square meters regularly host major fairs, cultural events, and art exhibitions.
Media Partners:
AI FRIENDLY
AI FRIENDLY proudly supports Mickalene Thomas, recognizing her as a groundbreaking force in contemporary art whose vision continues to reshape cultural narratives and expand the possibilities of creative expression.
DN-A INTERNATIONAL
DN AFRICA proudly aligns itself with Mickalene Thomas, one of the most influential voices in contemporary art today. As an artist whose work reshapes the visual and cultural landscape, Thomas stands at the forefront of a global movement redefining representation, identity, and the place of Black women within the canon of art history.
Her multidisciplinary practice—spanning painting, collage, photography, video, performance, and monumental installations—has established her as a visionary whose impact extends far beyond the walls of museums. Thomas’s work is not merely seen; it is experienced. It challenges, empowers, and reframes the narratives that have long shaped the artistic world.
DN AFRICA’s support reflects a shared commitment to visibility, cultural empowerment, and the elevation of diverse voices. By standing with Mickalene Thomas, DN AFRICA celebrates an artist whose creative force opens new pathways for dialogue, innovation, and representation across continents.
In championing her work, DN AFRICA affirms its dedication to promoting global artistic excellence and fostering connections between Africa, its diaspora, and the international cultural scene.
Supporting Mickalene Thomas is not only an endorsement of her artistic brilliance—it is a statement of values, a recognition of her transformative influence, and a celebration of the narratives she brings to light.
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