Mickalene Thomas, the artist celebrated for her glittering, rhinestone-adorned portraits of Black women, has joined New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery. She will have a solo exhibition at the gallery in January 2028 while maintaining existing representation with Yancey Richardson (New York), Galerie Nathalie Obadia (Paris), and Baldwin Gallery (Aspen). Thomas, who earned her MFA from Yale in 2002, works across painting, photography, collage, video, and installation, drawing on art history, popular culture, and African textiles. Her work is held by major institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum, and her touring exhibition “Mickalene Thomas: All About Love” opened at the Broad in 2024.
This move matters because Jack Shainman Gallery is one of the most influential galleries in the United States, known for representing heavyweight artists such as El Anatsui, Kerry James Marshall, and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye. Shainman’s innovative spaces—including The School in Kinderhook and a former bank in Tribeca—offer Thomas new architectural challenges that could push her practice into larger-scale works. The partnership also signals continued strength in the market for contemporary Black female artists, following the gallery’s recent representation of Faith Ringgold and rising talents like Tyler Mitchell.