Thanks to Mickalene Thomas I will never hear the ’80s hit “Hey Mickey” the same way again. The Brooklyn artist, who is a Muse favorite, had a crowd of people surrounding her video and painting installation at the main Art Basel fair. The video featured a sassy nude black girl dressed in knee-high gym socks and shiny red pumps singing the chorus from the song with her hip cocked to the side. It all sounds kinky on paper, but the work actually had a fun lightness and humor to it. If this week is any indication, Mickalene may majorly blow up in 2009. She has literally been all over the place from a special T Magazine edition being distributed around the Convention Center that includes a two-page spread of her artwork to her appearance on a panel discussion for the much talked about Rubell Family Collection show “30 American Artists” (more about that later)—not to mention all of her paintings at the satellite fairs. 

 

 

Posted: December 5th, 2008  Category: Life  Comments: No comments#