Lava Thomas (born 1958) is an American artist. She was born and raised in Los Angeles.[2]
Lava Thomas | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1958 (age 65–66)[1] Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Career
editThomas' art practice explores female subjectivity, social justice and changing historical discourses.[3]
In 2015, she was selected by the City of San Francisco to create a monument to the writer Maya Angelou.[4] However, the city rescinded its initial approval for the monument, citing objections to Thomas' proposed work by city supervisor Catherine Stefani, who had sponsored the legislation for the artwork.[5][6] The city started its search for an artist anew, but in 2019, it reversed course and affirmed the original selection of Thomas. The city issued a public apology that stated "Due to our failures, we have caused significant harm to an incredibly talented Black woman artist, and we have caused deep pain to members of the Black artist community."[7][8]
In 2015, she had a solo exhibition at the Museum of the African Diaspora.[9][10] In 2018, she exhibited Mugshot Portraits: Women of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which presented portraits of the women involved in the 1955–1956 Montgomery bus boycott.[3]
Collections
editHer work is included in the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum,[1] the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art[11] and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[12]
Selected group exhibitions
edit- 2021 The Black Index (online only due to COVID-19 restrictions), University of California, Irvine (CAC Gallery), Irvine, California (January 14 – March 20, 2021) with Dennis Delgado, Alicia Henry, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Titus Kaphar, and Whitfield Lovell.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b "Lava Thomas | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu.
- ^ Winn, Steven (November 29, 2014). "Lava Thomas' art rooted in biography". SFGATE.
- ^ a b Seikaly, Roula. "At Rena Bransten Gallery, Lava Thomas' 'Mugshots' Are Drawn Out of History". KQED.
- ^ Knight, Heather (October 19, 2019). "Artist's vision for Maya Angelou statue crushed by City Hall's dysfunction". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ "SFAC Awards the Maya Angelou Monument to Lava Thomas, Finally". KQED.
- ^ McCalman, George (February 7, 2021). "Lava Thomas speaks out: A candid interview with the artist on saga of S.F.'s Maya Angelou monument". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ^ Small, Zachary (August 6, 2020). "San Francisco Apologizes to Artist Over Maya Angelou Monument". The New York Times.
- ^ Hotchkiss, Sarah; Veltman, Chloe. "SFAC Apologizes to Lava Thomas for Mishandling Maya Angelou Monument". KQED.
- ^ "Lava Thomas: Beyond". MoAD Museum of African Diaspora.
- ^ Desmarais, Charles (October 4, 2018). "When homemakers became heroes: Lava Thomas drawings at Rena Bransten". Datebook. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
- ^ "Thomas, Lava · SFMOMA". SFMOMA.
- ^ "Lava Thomas, "Xavier" (2006)". PAFA – Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. February 5, 2019.
- ^ "The Black Index". University of California, Irvine. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
The artists featured in The Black Index—Dennis Delgado, Alicia Henry, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Titus Kaphar, Whitfield Lovell, and Lava Thomas—build upon the tradition of Black self-representation as an antidote to colonialist images.