A Cultural Moment

Mickalene Thomas, A Very Beautiful Black Girl, 2011

​We seem to be in the midst of a cultural moment, when the art and political worlds are bringing us a new perspective, a fresh energy.

In Los Angeles right now two Afro-American artists are receiving major retrospectives: the sculptor Simone Leigh and the painter/installation artist Mickalene Thomas. These exhibitions have been planned for years, so nobody expected Kamala Harris to also be on the stage. 

What connects these three women is not only racial identity, but their refusal to let others define what it means to be black and female. They take control of that narrative, saying “this is who I am and it’s my story to tell.” 

Mickalene Thomas’ exhibition, “All About Love,” is extraordinary on many levels. We see portraits of black women (a rare thing in the Western canon) who are singing, laughing, celebrating, while decorated with rhinestones and glitter. The exhibition is full of domestic scenes, with portraits of friends, family, and the artist herself. There is even a gallery where the visitor can rest in the colorful patchwork chairs of her childhood living room. Thomas is saying: “I may be a famous artist having a retrospective but welcome to my personal space, this is who I am and where I came from.”

Simone Leigh’s monumental sculptures of Afro-American women are more abstract, her range of reference global, yet she also communicates a powerful origin story. Her work addresses centuries of oppression by showing black women as hybrid forms, often a small head connected to a vessel or a jug, reflecting traditional domestic roles and celebrating their strength and endurance in the face of oppression. 

In this context it is no surprise that Kamala Harris greets us with laughter, talking about her family history and values, refusing to let others define her.