Chicago Photographer Accuses Mickalene Thomas of Copyright Infringement

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Barbara Karant alleges that Thomas “appropriated more than a dozen” of her pictures in a brand new lawsuit.

A Chicago-based photographer is suing artist Mickalene Thomas for alleged copyright infringement, in keeping with paperwork filed in federal district court docket in Illinois on May 26. 

Barbara Karant, whose works are held within the pictures collections of establishments together with the Art Institute of Chicago, claims that Thomas “appropriated more than a dozen” of her pictures with out her consent or correct attribution.  

The dispute revolves round Karant’s 820 Ebony/Jet (2013–15) collection, a group of 250 pictures taken on the vacant former headquarters of one of many largest Black-owned media corporations within the United States, the Johnson Publishing Company. The South Michigan Avenue headquarters was Chicago’s first high-rise commissioned by a Black-owned company. The now-defunct firm, which bought its constructing to Columbia College Chicago in 2010, printed Ebony and Jet — two early magazines devoted to African-American tradition, leisure, and politics — till its closure in 2016.

In the years after the constructing’s sale, Karant photographed its singular interiors, initially envisioned by Chicago inside designers Arthur Elrod and William Raiser. 

The lawsuit alleges that an set up in Thomas’s 2024 exhibition All About Love at The Broad “incorporated her copyrighted photographs,” together with one she took in an Ebony Fashion Fair dressing room and two others of patterned partitions contained in the headquarters. 

“The vibrant, patterned shapes, the ceiling lights, and the patterned wallpaper … were all lifted from Karant’s photographs of the JPC interiors,” the lawsuit reads.

Karant additionally alleged that different works by Thomas included pictures taken from her work, together with “Nus Exotiques #10” (2025), a collage that includes a nude Black lady and a fraction of a window allegedly appropriated from an 820 Ebony/Jet {photograph}.

An legal professional listed for Thomas on authorized filings and her public relations workforce haven’t but responded to Hyperallergic’s requests for remark. Charles Insler, Karant’s legal professional, declined to remark.

Karant additionally named a number of galleries within the go well with that had displayed Thomas’s allegedly appropriative work in particular person and on-line, together with Lévy Gorvy Dayan, Yancey Richardson, Kavi Gupta, and Galerie Nathalie Obadia. They are accused of taking part in “willful” copyright infringement. 

In a press release to Hyperallergic, a spokesperson for Lévy Gorvy Dayan stated the gallery was “deeply respectful of all artists’ rights and creativity” and declined to remark additional, citing “active litigation.” A spokesperson for Kavi Gupta informed Hyperallergic the gallery was “proud of our history supporting [Thomas’s] work” and would “continue to recognize the importance of her voice and contribution to the field.”

“To the best of our knowledge, Kavi Gupta Gallery has never dealt with any of the bodies of work mentioned in the suit,” the spokesperson continued, declining to remark additional. “We are reviewing the matter with counsel.”

The lawsuit comes months earlier than Karant’s e book 820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, an American Icon is about to be printed by MW Editions. The Chicago-based photographer’s attorneys argued within the go well with that “Thomas’s copying has damaged Karant’s ability to sell her own photographs” and jeopardizes the marketplace for her forthcoming e book. 

The use and appropriation of different artists’ pictures in unique artworks has been legally contested for many years. In 2024, artist Richard Prince was ordered to pay over half 1,000,000 {dollars} in a lawsuit filed by Donald Graham and Eric McNatt, whose pictures Prince had discovered on-line and “remixed” in his personal works.

Thomas is extensively recognized for her elaborate collages, work, and installations portraying Black American girls, usually that includes components similar to rhinestones and glitter. 

The go well with marks the second public authorized motion towards Thomas throughout the final 12 months. Last August, her former fiancée and enterprise associate, Racquel Chevremont, accused the artist of abuse, allegations which Thomas expressly denied, in a $14 million lawsuit within the New York State Supreme Court.