Show Review: Mickalene Thomas at the Grand Palais

An artist whose work we’ve long wanted to see—and one we’ve repeatedly discussed during our Drawing Sesh—Mickalene Thomas is finally getting the space and visibility her work deserves. Or so we thought, before attending Mickalene Thomas: All About Love. While the work itself shines brightly at the Grand Palais – RMN in Paris, the exhibition is unfortunately marred by a strange lack of attention to detail.

We visited on Thursday, 30 December in the afternoon, and purchased an open ticket to ensure we could arrive at our convenience.

Mickalene Thomas (born 28 January 1971) is a 54-year-old Brooklyn-based artist working across collage, photography, filmmaking, drawing, and mixed media. She is also a major influence and source of inspiration for our own work. Whether by revolutionizing representations of the female body in art history, or by re-enacting canonical scenes—Trois Femmes Noires, her response to Manet’s infamous Déjeuner sur l’Herbe, for instance—Thomas reshapes the world in her own image: Black, queer, and proud.

We were particularly happy to see the installation based on Thomas’s residency at Monet’s estate in Normandy, having missed the original presentation when it was first exhibited in 2022 at the Musée de l’Orangerie.

The +

The work.
We had been waiting a long time to see Mickalene Thomas’s work in person, and it did not disappoint. The exhibition presents a dazzling selection of pieces, including large-scale portraits of empowered women—models, muses, and friends of the artist alike.

Spending time with the work felt like a masterclass in image-making. Thomas is known for her signature collage technique, combining blown-up photographic fragments, drawn body and facial elements, and rhinestones. Born out of necessity, the use of rhinestones has evolved into a bold celebration of femininity.

Accessibility.
One of us was using a wheelchair, which made us acutely aware of the tortuous elevator routes throughout the exhibition space.

The open ticket.
A real plus: we were able to choose our arrival time freely.

The –

The layout.

The layout gives an impression of repetition, with some images feeling on repeat - as well as constriction, with some images deserving more space to breathe, especially on the second floor.

General access.
Contrary to what was stated on our tickets, the entrance was not at 3 Avenue du Général Eisenhower (the ice-rink entrance), but next door, at what is now the main entrance. There are at least three different entrances to the Grand Palais, none of which are connected internally—requiring visitors to exit the building entirely to reach another section.

The lack of English subtitles, which feels like the bare minimum for an international artist of this stature.

Poor communication around the exhibition overall.

And last but not least: no catalogue.
We explicitly asked at the gift shop and were told two things: first, that the exhibition was confirmed at the last minute, only six months before opening—too short a delay, apparently, to produce a catalogue in time. Second, that the English catalogue was already sold out and would require a ten-day wait for restocking.

Our advice

A must-see exhibition. Come for Mickalene Thomas’s work and her world—and try to overlook the lack of attention to detail.

In our next post, we’ll talk about the Eva Jospin and Claire Tabouret exhibition.