Guests arrived at Thomas’s Clinton Hill studio by SUV caravan to view new works by the artist for her forthcoming exhibition at the Santa Monica Museum of Art and to preview a new print to benefit the museum. The event was hosted by Susanne Vielmetter Projects, Lehmann Maupin Gallery, the Santa Monica Museum of Art and Paddle8 and sponsored by Pommery Champagne. Several art world notaries were in attendance including MCA Chicago curator Naomi Beckwith, Art in America Editor-in-Chief Lindsay Pollock, art advisor Pippa Cohen and MFA Boston curator Al Miner.
Guests chatted with the affable Thomas, posed for pictures in the artist’s photo set fashioned after a retro living room and toasted to her forthcoming exhibition with glasses of champagne. The new paintings integrated portraiture and interior spaces with elements of landscape. We were thrilled to have a closer look at Thomas’ sophisticated compositions of pattern, color, painterly gesture, collage and rhinestones.
Paddle8 has partnered with the Santa Monica Museum of Art to exclusively sell a limited edition print to raise funds for the museum, which will be available on Paddle8 to purchase on April 13th timed with the opening of the show. Mickalene Thomas’s solo show Origin of the Universe work will be on view in the Santa Monica Museum of Art in SMMoA between April 14th to August 19th, before travelling to the Brooklyn Museum of Art in September.