Thomas Mailaender (b. 1979) is a French multimedia artist living and working between Paris and Marseille. Known for his use of a wide range of techniques including ceramic, photography, collage and installation, he employs diverse materials, often re-appropriating images from the internet or his own huge archive. One of Mailaender's attributes is his ingenuity and ability to conceive curious and creative exhibitions using everyday materials and his curated shows teem with humour and originality.
In 2017, along with Eric Kessels, Mailaender curated Photo Pleasure Palace, an exhibition in conjunction with Unseen Photography fair in Amsterdam. Both artists are compulsive collectors of photographs and keen observers of sociological patters. Additionally, they both take the absurd and ridiculous very very seriously. In this exhibition, Kessels and Mailaender welcomed visitors to their weird-and-wonderland, a place where pleasure is guaranteed and photos are in imminent danger.
Mailaender's work is held in public collections worldwide including the Musée National de l'histoire de l'Immigration, Paris, FNAC (Fond National d'Art Contemporain), Paris and MONA museum, Tasmania. He has exhibited widely in exhibitions such as Do Disturb (Palais de Tokyo in Paris, 2017), Iconoclasts: Art Out of the Mainstream (Saatchi gallery, London, 2017-8), Performing for the Camera (Tate Modern, 2016), From Here On (Rencontres d'Arles, 2011), Paris Photo, and Back to the Future show (FOAM, Amsterdam, 2018). In 2015 he was awarded the PhotoBook of the Year in the 2015 edition of the Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards.
