Mickalene Thomas

Roberta Smith and Jerry Saltz are both rockstars in the world of art criticism. They’re also madly in love. Reflecting on their relationship, careers, and the ever-evolving New York City art scene, this unlikely power couple invites us into their surprisingly humble world.

Visual artist Marilyn Minter has been a major creative voice since the 1970s. Despite her undeniable talent, her provocative style—often blurring the lines between pornographic and commercial—has kept her at arm’s length from the art world’s inner sanctum. Marilyn’s steadfast commitment to her own creative instincts has carried her through eras of success and rejection and into the present, where she has become known for capturing cultural icons like Lizzo, Jane Fonda, Pamela Anderson, Monica Lewinsky, and many others. As the public appetite catches up to Marilyn’s vision, will the establishment’s gatekeepers finally accept her?

Queer culture and the arts would be much poorer without the presence and contribution of butch and stud lesbians, whose identity is both its own aesthetic and a defiant repudiation of the male gaze.

Do I Look Like a Lady? (Comedians and Singers) presents a dynamic checkerboard of moving image footage featuring African-American actors and singers from across the 20th century: from Jackie “Moms” Mabley to Eartha Kitt, Whoopi Goldberg, Whitney Houston, and several others. The video focuses on their individual voices as they express heartbreaking roles, pointed lyrics, sharp jokes, and strong statements of resistance to the dominant culture. The work is a powerful, and often riotous, reflection on the roles of black women in the United States.

African-American painter Mickalene Thomas pays tribute to the life and longings of her mother and muse Sandra Bush in this documentary short. A former runway model with a poignant backstory filled with dreams, regrets and redemption, Sandra is the focus of this emotional portrait for her New York-based artist-daughter Mickalene, for whom she serves as a model and inspiration.