Illustrated People - Thomas Mailaender

Thomas Mailaender

Saatchi Gallery, London

20th April 2018

At the Saatchi Art Gallery, London, I came across the Illustrated People series by Thomas Mailaender, his work consist of a series of Lambda print on paper mounted on aluminium and oak frame. The exhibit included #4, #6 and #14.

Mailaender applies negative photographs onto his subject’s bodies and uses a UV light to burn the image into the subject’s skin.

While viewing his work, I realised that Walter Benjamin’s essay on the aura really related to this piece.

While trying to photograph Mailaender’s work, I realised that my reflection was in every image I took (as seen above) therefore, I could not create a perfect replica and never would be able to. This meant that the aura was preserved, and the photograph I took is no longer a replication of the artwork but a memory of the work and the aura that I felt when viewing his work.

This awareness has helped me decide on how to present my work. My work will be framed in large white frames (inspired by Francesca Woodman’s work in the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art) with a pane of glass in front of it to preserve the aura and the intimacy of my work.