Library Street Collective is pleased to present, Beneath the Moonlight, a solo presentation of new work by Mickalene Thomas at the Shepherd. The exhibition marks a milestone for Thomas, introducing an entirely new body of work that expands her practice into an exploration of masculinity and the representation of the Black male body. Bringing together large-scale paintings, collage and photography, the exhibition reflects a pivotal shift in one of the most influential artistic practices in contemporary art.
For more than two decades, Thomas has developed a distinctive visual language rooted in photography, translating her images into paintings embellished with rhinestones, collage, acrylic and enamel. Her work is widely recognized for its depiction of Black women posed within richly patterned interiors that draw from art history, fashion and the domestic sphere, reclaiming traditions that have historically excluded them.
In this new body of work, she extends that mission for the first time to focus on masculinity, deepening the same concerns of beauty, agency and representation. Featuring works staged within her signature staged environments, the exhibition approaches masculinity not as a fixed identity but as a spectrum. Working with a range of models, including non-binary and trans men, Thomas creates images that challenge dominant representations and make space for vulnerability, sensuality and strength within portrayals of Black masculinity, offering a broader view of how masculinity is constructed and experienced.
“The representation of masculinity spoke to me more, and using the Black male body as a vehicle, as a conduit to express those ideas that are resonant and paralleled to my concepts that I’m already working within with the female body,” said Mickalene Thomas.
This exhibition follows Thomas’s major solo presentation All About Love, recently on view at the Grand Palais in Paris. A catalog with original essays and interviews will accompany the exhibition, designed by artist Bob Faust. In conjunction with the exhibition, Black Diamond Editions will debut as an extension of Thomas’s practice, as a limited edition print publisher launching with a first-edition print based on The Comfort Of! Portrait, in an edition of 25, exclusively with Library Street Collective and Louis Buhl & Co. Conceived as a natural complement to the works on view, the edition translates Thomas’s deeply rooted relationship to printmaking into an intimate, collectible format.