What does it take to be immersed into a feeling? Do we need blue walls and the sound of rain for sadness? Bright lights and warm colors for happiness? What about dark, quiet emptiness to instill fear? And what about love? During my second visit to Mickalene Thomas’ exposition All About Love at Le Grand Palais, I experienced just that.
Thomas (b. 1971, New York) is a multi-hyphenate African-American artist who employs mixed-media to create her art. All About Love highlights femininity and love through the gaze of the Black woman. Intended to reflect a dazzling sensuality, her use of rhinestones within her grand paintings and collages immersed me in this divine female energy, all while the the calm, vulnerable and familiar environment allowed me to stay there.
“All About Love invites audiences to enter a universe of love, leisure, and liberation, spaces where beauty, intimacy, and self-possession reshape the art historical gaze.” Le Grand Palais
Confident women displayed in the name of love covered the walls of this exposition. What were particularly immersive were the room displays, most of which were set up to feel like a living room, while others just felt like a slice of home. Some were interactive, where I saw visitors sitting and immersing themselves in the moment of comfort and love.
Did Thomas use these living room displays to evoke the feeling of home? Was it intended to put the visitor at ease, making them feel more relaxed and open? While plenty of immersive experiences use stimulating elements to stir feelings and reaction from visitors, the calm tranquility of All About Love softened us as we moved from room to room.
All About Love tells the story of Black women over the decades, from a point of view of love.
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