Mickalene Thomas at the Santa Monica Museum

You owe it to yourself to go and view the work of Mickalene Thomas at the Santa Monica Museum of Art. Origin of the Universe is a special treat to behold. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine sparkle, amongst lusciousness and a little bit of punk.

Mickalene Thomas, Origin of the Universe 1, 2012, Rhinestones, acrylic, oil, and enamel on wood panel, 48 x 60 inches, Collection of the Hudgins Family, New York, NY

There is even a bright red door to behold behind which the installation beyond can only be viewed through peek holes.

Mickalene Thomas: Origin of the Universe, installation, 2012, Courtesy the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Photo by Monica Orozco

Thomas' work is bold, almost brash. While I hesitate to say beautiful there is something about the way she works that really feels like she's striving for beauty in her imagery; and her attention to craft is exquisite. I wanted to take close-up pictures so that I could study how she did what she did.

Mickalene Thomas, Interior: Two Chairs and Fireplace, 2012, Rhinestones, acrylic, oil, and enamel on wood panel, 96 x 72 inches, Collection of Pamela K. and William A. Royall, Jr., Richmond, VA

She paints with oil paint in a way that makes it look like delicious frosting with hard-edge application. In acrylic in other areas of the collage-like paintings she renders camouflage, floral and polka dot patterns – sometimes all on the same panel. Reading this you might think, "how awful." You could look at Thomas' work on-line or in pictures but you not even begin to understand all that has gone into producing the work on display in this show.

Mickalene Thomas, Din, Une Très Belle Négresse #2, 2012, Rhinestones, acrylic, oil, and enamel on wood panel, 102 x 84 inches, Private Collection, Boston, Massachusetts

Her works are of interiors and exteriors of places and people. She makes the work extremely large, many with rounded corners, and uses a collage-like system for applying her varied marks that combined create the image.

Mickalene Thomas, Interior: Blue Couch with Green Owl, 2012, Rhinestones, acrylic, oil, and enamel on wood panel, 108 x 84 inches, Collection of Michael Hoeh, New York, NY

All of the paintings have the same list of ingredients: rhinestones, oil, acrylic, and enamel on wood panel. On the panels different places are smooth, lumpy, flat, shiny, reflective or dull depending on what medium she applied for that portion of the collage, and yet it all hold together.

Mickalene Thomas, Origin of the Universe 1, 2012, Rhinestones, acrylic, oil, and enamel on wood panel, 48 x 60 inches, Collection of the Hudgins Family, New York, NY

Many if not all of the paintings reference work of painters like Matisse and Corbet. My favorite piece, Sleep: Deux Femmes Noires, is really huge and has cracks of orange painted throughout. I kept going back to it and wondering: Do the orange slivers hold the work together like grout or mortar? Or are the orange collage shapes that which might bring the image to the verge of collapse? Either way I wanted to keep looking. I hope you will too.

I must mention that all of the images reproduced here in my blog were taken directly from the Santa Monica Museum of Art web site. The SMMA does not allow photography.