All About Love

Hayward Gallery

11th February – 5th May 2025

 Review by Halina Edwards

All About Love, the new exhibition by American artist Mickalene Thomas at the Hayward Gallery in London, borrows its name from the 1999 book by bell hooks. In it, hooks explores the concept of love beyond romantic relationships, describing it as something that encompasses family, friendship, self-love, and community.

Leaning into that concept, Thomas creates a world of large-scale, mixed-media collages, installations, photography and video works that depict Black women from her circle of friends, family, collaborators, and models – shown both at rest and in staged compositions. Their eyes gently hold your gaze. Exuding glamour, their facial features and silhouettes are accentuated by the use of rhinestones and glitter that dazzle in the light – adding a pout to the lips and shine and volume to their hair.

Beyond the sensuality of these women pours a deep sense of self-ownership. The subjects in these works feel present and represented within the domestic spaces they inhabit. Influenced by 1970s Black Americana and the textiles that surrounded her during her upbringing, Thomas brings together contrasting prints that adorn the women’s bodies and appear on the decorative wallpaper that seamlessly melts into the interior space of the exhibition. Furniture upholstered in matching patterns invites viewers to sit and become part of the environment. Music from this era flows throughout the space, further immersing you in the mood of the show.

Set within the exhibition are interior installations drawing from the artist’s own life that represent different areas of the home. Upstairs in the gallery, visitors are invited to sit in one of these spaces, a living room. As you sit down, ‘Angelitos Negros’ (2016) is playing. A four-screen side-by-side video work features Eartha Kitt’s performance of ‘Paint Me Black Angels’ alongside three other performers styled like Kitt – including the artist – lip-syncing to the song. The three installations downstairs – two living rooms and one bedroom-style dresser – are for viewing only. Within these spaces are letters, figurines, inspirational quotes, and images of public figures alongside sentimental items such as cast bronze bracelets belonging to Thomas’s mother and upholstery inspired by her grandmother. Each object within its space has its own orbit, quietly reminding us that the way we shape our surroundings in turn shapes us. 

A love that flows through this space is that of her late mother, Sandra Bush, whom Thomas describes as her first muse. Reflecting on the love within their relationship, Thomas notes that Bush – a former fashion model – was not only a striking presence, standing at 6’ 1”, but also a model for how to live. She became Thomas’s entry point into thinking about love for others. Early in her career, Thomas began photographing her mother, a moment that marked a turning point in her artistic process. Inspired by the works of Seydou Keïta, her practice evolved into photographing models in carefully posed positions against elaborate backdrops.

Thomas’s perspective on love within hook’s theory lies open here. It feels as if you’ve received an invitation to enter these women’s homes, a sacred space, where you honour it with the utmost care and respect. In doing so, the space returns the gesture, holding you in a sense of luxury, intimacy, and care.

Halina Edwards

Halina Edwards is a designer with an interdisciplinary practice.