Thomas Mailaender

"Cathedral cars" is a generic term invented by dockers at the port of Marseilles to designate the vehicles that cross over the Mediterranean from Marseilles to North Africa by ship. Thomas Mailaender pays tribute to these "cathedral cars"that can be considered as human feats, visually defying the laws of gravity and tied-up dreams. The photographer has made portraits of these cars seen from behind or from the profile, taking the background away in order to isolate them in the frame. Evoking popular art and sculpture, these cars also speak of the voyage to come, and deal with the passage from one territory to another, exodus and migration. Constructed as a large-sized picture book, Cathedral Cars borrows the attributes of children's books: thick cardboard paper, shiny coated film. A choice that creates a distance from the reality of context in order to present the subject itself as a game of construction. Marc Augé's text, "Elsewhere, Hereabouts"as well as a collection of "found images"by the artist, are printed on a 12-page booklet, fitted into the thickness of the book cover.

Scarce

Skin Memories depicts the creations of Thomas Mailaender realized at the Roux Tannery. Working and researching there, the artist experimented with the photographic medium and different analog printing techniques (cyanotypes, Vandyke process, anthotypes) onto leather surfaces. The source material for his imagery was gathered through purchases made from a variety of sellers including online. The body of material was thus made up both of photographs and a variety of other supports including newspaper clippings, written documents, advertisements, postcards and negatives, creating together a sort of iconoclastic anti-museum. This publication creates a confrontation on its pages by juxtaposing reproductions of Mailaender's installations produced during the residency and his scenography of the same images superimposed within the space of the tannery. He has selected certain leathers, textures and colors that dress the cover of the books, making every unit unique.
This book comes with the second version of the slipcase.