Camden native Mickalene Thomas named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025

Camden-born artistic powerhouse Mickalene Thomas was named one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2025, the magazine announced on Wednesday.

The recognition comes on the heels of Thomas’ touring solo exhibit “All About Love,” which was on view at the Barnes Foundation from October to January and represented a major homecoming. Now running at London’s Hayward Gallery through May 5, it showcases 20 years of her artwork, spanning painting, collage, photography, furniture, and video.

The Barnes iteration focused on her groundbreaking and subversive recreations, putting Black women at the center of iconic works by impressionist masters in the foundation’s collection like Henri Matisse and Gustave Courbet. The monumental piece Le Déjeuner sur l’herbe: Les trois femmes noires, a nod to Édouard Manet, was one of the stellar portraits that spotlighted Black women as muses in a bright, colorfully patterned, and captivating display.

That critical and illuminating conversation between Thomas and the titans of art history — and the hometown connection — were major reasons she wanted “All About Love” to land in Philadelphia, specifically at the Barnes.

“As people go in to see the [Barnes] collection, they can go, ‘Who’s this Mickalene Thomas?’ Then they see a reference to Le déjeuner or other references to Matisse and Courbet,” Thomas told The Inquirer in December. “You start to get this sense of the historical conversation around the work. Then they can [say] ‘Wow.’ [They] probably would never even have thought that this African American queer girl from Camden, New Jersey, would look at these white male artists and reshape this narrative of the Black female body.”

Thomas was raised by her mother, Sandra Bush, a former model and later the artist’s muse, who instilled the love for art in her children and enrolled them in after-school programs at the Newark Museum and New York’s Henry Street Settlement. Several portraits of “Mama Bush” were a part of the Barnes show.

Vocalist Alicia Keys, a prolific art collector who owns some of Thomas’ works, wrote about the artist for Time.

“You can tell right away when you’re looking at something created by Mickalene. She’s a mastermind at conveying poignant messages through striking visuals, and stepping into one of her shows feels like entering another world,” wrote Keys. “Mickalene herself is walking art. She has such a distinct presence and aura that it’s impossible not to feel inspired by her. The art and the artist both are bold, fearless, and fierce.”

In an Instagram post responding to the news, Thomas said she was honored.

“This acknowledgment reminds me that those who never give in to defeat hold their heads up high, look to the future, and approach challenges with self-assurance, confidence, positively have an invincible spirit,” Thomas wrote. “Not bad for a girl from CAMDEN, NJ!”

For Philadelphians who missed the Barnes show, Thomas’ work is expected to return to the region later this year for the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s forthcoming retrospective exhibit on the New York printmaking studio Brand X Editions.

In 2024, the studio gifted 350 screenprints to PMA to establish an archive, including works by Thomas.