Last night, the Grand Palais did what it does best: it swallowed us whole. Beneath its soaring glass canopy in the heart of Paris, Mickalene Thomas unveiled a world of big, unapologetic beauty, monumental collages of women rendered in rich color, rhinestones, patterns, and power. This major exhibition at the Grand Palais feels lush and defiant at once, a celebration of femininity that refuses to be quiet.
What made the evening especially moving was the care with which Black bodies are represented, seen through a gaze of appreciation, intimacy, and deep cultural understanding. These are not flattened symbols but fully inhabited lives. Thomas’s interiors feel lived-in and familiar: entire living rooms unfold across the walls, spaces that echo the warmth and aesthetic memory of places my aunts once lived. Patterned sofas, textured walls, and personal objects become part of the portrait, situating these women within a lineage, a home, a timeline. The work doesn’t just depict beauty; it remembers it.
Seeing these vibrant, commanding figures inside one of Paris’s most iconic exhibition spaces made the evening feel electric. This was the private opening night at the Grand Palais, just hours before the exhibition opens to the public, and the energy in the room matched the scale of the work: bold, glamorous, and alive.
All About Love, a vibrant retrospective of artist Mickalene Thomas was amazing.
the view from across the street before walking over to le grand palais, merci la vie 🙂