Mickalene Thomas, a prominent artist recognized for her works featuring Black women, is facing a copyright infringement lawsuit from photographer Barbara Karant. Filed last month in Illinois's North District Court, the suit claims Thomas used Karant's photographs without permission in various exhibitions.
Details of the Copyright Infringement Case
Karant alleges that Thomas appropriated images from her series 820 Ebony/Jet, which includes 250 photographs taken in 2013-2015 at the former headquarters of the Johnson Publishing Company. The lawsuit contends that Thomas engaged in "wholesale copying" of Karant's works, which were used in multiple installations and exhibitions.
The Johnson Publishing Company, once the largest Black-run publishing firm in the U.S., ceased operations in 2019. Its archives, containing over 4 million images, were acquired by a consortium of foundations and are set to be donated to institutions like the Getty Research Institute and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Impact on Thomas's Artistic Work
Karant's photographs have been featured in Thomas's recent exhibitions, including a 2021 show at New York's Lévy Gorvy Dayan gallery that included pixelated adaptations of Karant's images. The release for this exhibition highlighted Thomas's commitment to representations of Blackness and femininity, but did not credit Karant.
