Thomas Houseago, Mentor Reiffers Initiatives 2026
A major figure on the international art scene, Thomas Houseago has developed a multi-faceted sculptural and pictorial practice centered on the representation of the human body. Houseago’s sculptures, which range from monumental works to smaller-scale pieces, possess a remarkable ability to convey power and vulnerability simultaneously.
As part of the 2026 edition of the Reiffers Initiatives mentorship program, the British artist is partnering with French artist Théo Mercier. The result of their collaboration and this intergenerational dialogue will be a major joint exhibition set to open in October 2026 during Art Basel Paris
Biography
Thomas Houseago, born in 1972 in Leeds, United Kingdom, studied art at Central Saint Martins College in London in the early 1990s. He moved to Los Angeles in 2004, where he currently lives.
The artist uses materials associated with classical and modernist sculpture (such as carved wood, clay, plaster, and bronze), as well as less traditional ones (steel rods, concrete, and burlap), to powerfully reveal the creative processes that inform his practice.
His major institutional solo exhibitions include the Jardín de la Banca March in Madrid, Spain (2026); the Rubell Museum in Miami, Florida, United States (2025); TANK Shanghai, China (2023); the Centre Pompidou-Metz, France (2022); the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland (2022); the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels (2021); the Musée d’Art moderne de la Ville de Paris (2019); the Royal Academy in London (2019); Le Consortium in Dijon (2015–2016); and Rockefeller Plaza in New York (2015).
Texts
Thomas Houseago, artist mentor Reiffers Initiatives 2026
“I believe art offers us another way of being in the world. It forces us to slow down, to really look, to feel rather than consume. My sculptures often emerge from pain, chaos or uncertainty, but they are always searching for a form of reconciliation. They are about death, of course, because sculpture is always about death, but above all they are about life, transformation, and the possibility of rebirth.”