The Sign Show invited Thomas to participate because of the numerous ways her work engages female sexuality and beauty—obvious themes in ads for porn and idealized bodies (liposuction, plastic surgery, etc.) and in the general way advertising uses images of sexy women to sell almost any product.

On the main billboard, adjacent to an ad for a strip club, Thomas’s image addressed gender politics with immediacy and candor.

For its satellite location, "A Moment's Pleasure" moved to a Greater St. Louis billboard at the exit for West Florissant Avenue, five miles from the site of Michael Brown’s killing and Ferguson protests. This installation marked the first instance of Sign Show artwork intersecting with current events as well as a physical landscape. The work retained its feminist content but its reading shifted to contain race as well as gender. The two women, with their solid poses and dignified expressions, became like sentinels,  marking and watching over a scene of national pain and conflict. 

Video of billboard installation

Artist's website: http://mickalenethomas.com/

Recent press:

Huffington Post
NY Observer Gallerist
Interview Magazine

Video interview with the artist:

http://vimeo.com/87337559