Recently, Vogue ran a feature of 29 must-see art exhibitions in America this fall. 2 Yale artists, Mickalene Thomas MFA ’02 and Barkley L. Hendricks BFA/MFA ’72, and their fall 2023 exhibitions made it on the list. Learn more about the two exhibitions and artists below:
Mickalene Thomas / Portrait of an Unlikely Space
“The present confronts the past in Mickalene Thomas’s latest exhibition, which marks a departure from her high-glamour paintings of Black women in electric interiors. With “Mickalene Thomas / Portrait of an Unlikely Space,” the artist has designed a new multi-gallery installation that evokes pre-Emancipation-era domestic settings. The period-appropriate furniture-filled rooms are further decorated with American portraits of Black women, men, and children dating to the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as contemporary artworks by Thomas and other artists. The wide range of media on view uniquely links the individuals seen in the historical objects and art with the present-day exhibition-goer, creating an evocative, multigenerational conversation around identity and equity.”
When: September 8 to January 7, 2024.
Where: Yale University Art Gallery
Barkley L. Hendricks: Portraits at the Frick
“Looking at Barkley L. Hendricks’s distinctive portraits of utterly stylish Black subjects, one is quickly struck by their modernity—although the late American artist (1945–2017) gleaned inspiration from centuries-old portraits by the likes of Rembrandt and Bronzino. Hendricks’s love for the Frick has come full circle with this exhibition, which will place his finest works alongside the museum’s holdings. Organized by Frick curator Aimee Ng and consulting curator Antwaun Sargent, the show marks a new chapter for the museum, which is constantly evolving and modernizing, while offering an unprecedented window into Hendrick’s legacy.”
When: September 21 to January 7, 2024.
Where: Frick Madison Collection
Read more about Vogue’s must-see fall exhibitions here.
Photo credit: Sarah Goodridge, Rose Prentice (1771–1852), ca. 1837–38. Watercolor on ivory. Yale University Art Gallery, Partial gift of Caroline A. Phillips and purchased with the John Hill Morgan, b.a. 1893, ll.b. 1896, hon. 1929, Fund.