(Moment’s Pleasure # 2, 2008, rhinestones, acrylic and enamel on wood panel, 72” x 84” © 2008, Mickalene Thomas.)

via her website:

New York-based artist Mickalene Thomas is best known for her elaborate paintings composed of rhinestones, acrylic and enamel. Thomas introduces a complex vision of what it means to be a woman and expands common definitions of beauty. Her work stems from her long study of art history and the classical genres of portraiture, landscape, and still life.

Inspired by various sources that range from the 19th century Hudson River School to Édouard Manet, Henri Matisse and Romare Bearden, she continues to explore notions of beauty from a contemporary perspective infused with the more recent influences of popular culture and Pop Art.

(This Girl Could be Dangerous, 2007)

(Mama Bush: Your Love (Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher, 2009.)

(Qusuquzah, Une Trés Belle Négresse 3, 2012.)

(A-E-I-O-U and Sometimes Y, 2009.)

(Dim All The Lights, 2009.)

(Moment’s Pleasure # 2, 2008, rhinestones, 2008.)