Matias Faldbakken (b. 1973 in Hobro, Denmark) is an author and visual artist. As an artist he works with a number of media: sculpture, drawing, video, and collage. The basis for all his art is his interest in countercultural expressions and conflict, and Faldbakken’s works often problematize themes like artistic freedom and freedom of speech. He uses mass produced containers and everyday materials as starting points for his sculptural works. Bags, cupboards, and bottles lose their original function through breaking, cutting and new constellations. In a similar way, Faldbakken is preoccupied with the possibilities for language to contain something, how content can be deciphered layer by layer, but also how it can be turned inside out and be linked to a new context. Faldbakken’s artistic projects may perhaps be summed up as follows: What is antagonism?

Faldbakken is represented by STANDARD (OSLO). He has, among other things, exhibited at Documenta 13 (2012) and he has represented Norway at the Venice Biennale in 2005. In 2001 he made his debut as an author under the pseudonym Abo Rasul with The Cocka Hola Company: Skandinavisk misantropi, published by Forlaget Oktober. In 2019 he published his fifth novel.

Faldbakken has his education from The Art Academy in Bergen and Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste, Städelhochschule in Frankfurt am Main.

Photo: Christina Undrum Andersen.