The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) Miami is currently hosting a groundbreaking retrospective of artist Mildred Thompson (1936–2003), marking the first comprehensive survey of her prolific five-decade career. Known for her bold experimentation across mediums, Thompson’s work resists easy categorization and this exhibit doesn’t attempt to confine it.

Unlike earlier exhibitions that focused on specific periods of her creative output — such as the critically acclaimed 2018 show “Against the Grain” at the New Orleans Museum of Art, which concentrated on her wooden sculptures — the ICA’s retrospective ambitiously spans her entire artistic journey.

Upon entering the museum’s second-floor galleries, visitors are greeted with an eclectic visual symphony: unpainted found wood installations sit alongside monochrome prints, while expansive triptychs share space with raw wooden planks fitted with industrial hardware. This stylistic diversity might initially feel disjointed, but the exhibition smartly weaves together the themes that unify Thompson’s work spirituality, music, cosmology, and a relentless curiosity about the material world.

Throughout her career, Thompson defied the limitations often placed on Black women artists. She worked extensively in painting, printmaking, sculpture, and drawing, often using nontraditional materials and formats. The retrospective highlights her lifelong interest in abstract forms and metaphysical ideas, offering viewers insight into an artist who was far ahead of her time.

As both a celebration and a reevaluation, the ICA Miami’s retrospective positions Mildred Thompson not only as a key figure in American modernism but as a visionary whose expansive artistic universe is finally receiving the recognition it deserves.