Bass Museum presents MICKALENE THOMAS: Better Nights

Dec 1, 2019 - Sep 27, 2020
Family photos of Sandra Bush. © Mickalene Thomas. Courtesy of the artist.

Inspired by the local New Jersey play ‘Put a Little Sugar in my Bowl’ organized and performed by the artists’ mother, friends, and family as well as the parties hosted by the artist’s mother in the late 1970s, Mickalene Thomas: Better Nights is an installation that will transform the galleries into an immersive art experience for the duration of the exhibition.

The installation embodies an apartment environment, conceptually reconstructed according to the domestic aesthetic of the period, including faux wood paneling, wallpaper and custom seating reupholstered with the artist’s signature textiles. An extension of Thomas’ artistic universe, the installation incorporates both work by the artist and a curated selection by Thomas featuring work by emerging and prominent artists of color, with the prop-like tableau echoing the collage-like compositional style of Thomas’ paintings.

Better Nights will present a schedule of programming arranged by the artist, including live performances, concerts, activations, a live bar and appearances by guest DJs. The first chapter, Better Days, took place at the Galerie Volkhaus in Basel, Switzerland during Art Basel 2013.

AMickalene Thomas (b. 1971, Camden, New Jersey) is a 2015 United States Artists Francie Bishop Good & David Horvitz Fellow, distinguished visual artist, filmmaker and curator who has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. She is known for paintings that combine art-historical, political and pop-cultural references. Her work introduces complex notions of femininity and challenges common definitions of beauty and aesthetic representations of women. Thomas holds an MFA from Yale University and a BFA from Pratt Institute. She’s held solo museum exhibitions at the Brooklyn Museum, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, and L’Ecole des Beaux Arts, Monaco.

Image from Better Nights

Image from Better Nights

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