Chicago-based photographer Barbara Karant is suing artist Mickalene Thomas over alleged copyright infringement. Karant claims that more than a dozen of her images were used in Thomas's 2024 exhibition, All About Love, without permission or proper attribution.

The dispute centres on Karant’s photographs taken at the former headquarters of Johnson Publishing Company, Chicago's first high-rise by a Black-owned corporation. The building, now defunct and sold to Columbia College Chicago in 2010, was home to Ebony and Jet, magazines dedicated to African-American culture.

Karant’s legal team argues that Thomas’s exhibition at The Broad included her copyrighted photographs of the JPC interiors. They also accuse galleries of displaying Thomas's work without permission, potentially violating copyright laws.

The case highlights the ongoing debate in the art world about the use and appropriation of other artists' images. In 2024, Richard Prince faced a similar lawsuit over his remixed works using online photographs by Donald Graham and Eric McNatt.

This legal action comes as Karant prepares to publish her book, 820 Ebony/Jet: Visions of the Johnson Publishing Company, in 2024. The photographer believes that Thomas's copying has damaged her marketability and jeopardised future sales.