Press Release

“FUN ACADEMY”- Thomas Mailaender
Nextart Gallery & Bookshop
Opening November 10, 2012, 12-4 pm
Exhibition runs until December 2

FUN ACADEMY is Thomas Mailaender’s first Scandinavian show.

The exhibition contains a variable list of works: clumsily executed pottery, a tattooed toilet, floor paintings and much more.  Internet and flea markets are important sources of information for Mailaender, which can be seen in his arrangements of images and the aesthetic randomness that these provide.  It’s not always the separate pictures or objects that are of importance here, but rather the strange clashes that occur when the photographs or objects meet.  A process that is reminiscent of how internet surfing affects the perception – a modern form of surrealism or dadaism.

In ”THE FUN ARCHIVE”,  Mailaender has stored images of various types. Here the cute and naïve subject matter is juxtaposed with the tasteless and grotesque.  From this archive, the artist also found material to the newly produced tapestry ”Image Bondage”, which has been designed with Nextart’s gallery space in mind.  With needle and thread, the images have been combined into a grand collage, reminiscent of a contemporary Frankenstein’s monster.  Moreover, Mailaender presents the slideshow ”Decisive Moment” – a loose and emancipated tribute to the old, French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Thomas Mailaender (born 1979) is living and working in Paris and Marseille.  His works have been exhibited at solo-exhibitions in Paris, London and New York.  Mailaender is educated at Ecole des Arts Décoratifs de Paris (ENSAD) and has produced several books.

Welcome!

For more information and press images please contact
Sara Arvidsson on +46 (0)70  940 81 18 or sara@nextart.se