Christopher Kulendran Thomas (b. 1979) is an artist of Tamil descent, who spent his formative years in London after his family left escalating ethnic oppression in Sri Lanka. Seeing, mostly from a distance, how an ascendent contemporary art scene in Sri Lanka blossomed from the ashes of ethnic cleansing on the island, he began examining the structural processes by which art produces reality. Now working with advanced technologies across myriad disciplines, the artist’s studio is a fluid collaboration that brings together technologists, architects, writers, journalists, designers, musicians and activists from around the world. Solo exhibitions have been held at Kunsthalle Zurich (2023), KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2022); Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (2022); Schinkel Pavillon, Berlin (2019); Institute for Modern Art, Brisbane (2019); Spike Island, Bristol (2019); and Tensta konsthall, Stockholm (2017). Kulendran Thomas’ work is represented in major collections such as that of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and has been included in the Timișoara Biennial, (2023); Front Triennial, Cleveland (2022); Bi-City Biennale, Shenzhen (2017); the Gwangju Biennale; the Berlin Biennale; Dhaka Art Summit (all 2016); and can currently be seen in Proof of Personhood at the Singapore Art Museum.
