Matias Faldbakken

Matias Faldbakken (b. 1973, Denmark) is an artist and writer based in Oslo. Faldbakken studied at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Bergen and at the Städelschule in Frankfurt. He has published three novels, The Cocka Hola Company, Macht und Rebel and Unfun, as part of the Scandinavian Misanthropy trilogy under the alias Abo Rasul. His artistic practice comprises of video, sculptures, framed images, wall paintings and installations. In his work, he often uses ‘vandal tools and techniques’, such as markers, fire extinguisher powder, spray paint, tape, crushing, torching, tearing out and erasing to create aesthetic forms. Faldbakken is interested in the inter-breeding between so-called progressive environments (“avant-garde”) and the worlds of “commerce” – the dialectics of the sell-out. He has recently had solo shows at Le Consortium, Dijon (2013); Galerie Neu, Berlin (2013); OCA – Office for Contemporary Art, Oslo; WIELS, Brussels (2012); Galerie Eva Presenhuber (2012); Museum Bojimans van Beunigen, Rotterdam (2012); Reena Spaulings Fine Art, New York (2011); The Power Station, Dallas and Objectif Exhibitions, Antwerp (2010). Selected group exhibitions include Awaiting Immanence: Gardar Eide Einarsson, Matias Faldbakken, Adam McEwen, Hanna Liden, Klara Liden and Fredrik Værslev, Isbryraten, Stockholm (2013); dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel, Germany (2012); Remote Control, ICA – Institute for Contemporary Art, London (2012); and MONODROME, 3rd Athens Biennale, Athens (2011).