Les Belles Images ─ Thomas Mailaender

A catalogue-like artist’s book that turns Thomas Mailaender’s retrospective into a deliberately low-tech virtual tour of his studio and exhibition.

Les Belles Images is a publication by French multimedia artist Thomas Mailaender. It was published on the occasion of his first major retrospective in Paris, held at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie from 12 June to 29 September 2024. In keeping with the exhibition’s innovative approach, which departed from conventional graphic and visual display strategies, Mailaender chose an equally unconventional form and structure for the book.

Edited through two parallel image sets—photographs and 3D views—the publication allows the reader to explore works in progress as if visiting the artist’s studio, while at the same time participating in an intentionally low-tech virtual tour of the exhibition. It also includes texts by art historian Luce Lebart, Simon Baker, director of the Maison Européenne de la Photographie and curator of the exhibition, and Adén Vassand, the exhibition’s co-curator.

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Title: Les Belles Images
Artist: Thomas Mailaender
Publisher: RVB Books / La Maison Européenne de la Photographie, 2024
Format: Softcover, saddle stitched
Size: 280 × 420 mm
Pages: 140
Language: French / English
Edition: First edition
ISBN: 978-2-492175-41-1