Arcana:

(THOMAS, MICKALENE). Thomas, Mickalene. Santa Monica, CA: Mickalene Thomas & The Santa Monica Museum of Art, 2012. First Edition 1/250. Oblong Folio. Four Melamine Trays in a Box. Artist's Multiple. As New. Four 11 x 14" Melamine trays housed in a 12 x 15 x 3" paper over boards box. "Mickalene Thomas has won acclaim for her elaborate, colorful paintings of African-American women, often posed provocatively against rich, 1970s-themed backgrounds adorned with rhinestones, enamel and acrylics. Thomas draws from earlier traditions of portraiture to arrive at her contemporary sensibility. She engages with the tension between a personal investigation of eroticism, black femininity and beauty and a pop-cultural critique of the overt sexual imagery prevalent in the media - from Blaxploitation film heroines like Cleopatra Jones to the construction of middle-class, African-American taste in Ebony magazine." In conjunction with her 2012 "Mickalene Thomas: The Origin of the Universe" retrospective held at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, the noted Brooklyn-based artist created a limited edition multiple in the form of four Melamine serving trays that were sold in the SMMoA's "Gracie" shop as a fundraiser. Published in an unsigned edition of two hundred and fifty smartly-boxed sets, each of the four oval trays reproduces a different striking abstract pattern and bears Ms. Thomas' signature in facsimile on a molded cartouche on the underside. A brand new, pristine example of Mickalene Thomas' fabulous utilitarian objects sure to lend a touch of festive class to any home decor or gathering whose components are still sealed in their original plastic sleeves and accompanied by the Museum's individually numbered certificate of authenticity. Inventory Number: 027414