Matias Faldbakken (b. 1973, Hobro, Denmark) sources and re-contextualizes images from advertising, literature, art history, and pop culture, and manipulates mass-produced objects to examine how visual information is endlessly multiplied, transmuted and undermined in the digital age. Faldbakken has been the subject of many important one-person exhibitions, including a survey at the Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo (2017–2018); Le Consortium, Dijon; WIELS, Brussels; The Power Station, Dallas; Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel; Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen; Kunsthalle St. Gallen, St. Gallen; IKON Gallery, Birmingham; and The National Museum of Art, Design and Architecture, Oslo.
Faldbakken won the international competition to design the National 22 July Memorial in the new Government Quarter in Oslo, Norway. Faldbakken’s proposal, titled Upholding, was unvieled in JUly 2026 to mark the 15th anniversary of the 22 July attack.
While working across painting, drawing, sculpture and video in his art, Faldbakken is also known internationally for his writing, including the novels The Cocka Hola Company, Macht und Rebel, Unfun, and The Waiter. His newest book, Stakkar [Poor Thing], was published in 2022 and was shortlisted for the prestigious Brage Prize in Norway. His work is included in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The National Museum of Art, Oslo; Moderna Museet, Stockholm; Jumex Collection, Mexico City; The Ellipse Foundation, Lisbon; and The Astrup Fearnley Museum, Oslo.
Matias Faldbakken
FUEL SCULPTURE GREEN, 2017
cast concrete, rebar, acrylic paint
25 1/4 x 19 3/4 x 10 in. (64.1 x 50.2 x 25.4 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
T. Eldritch, 2017
Chinese ink on paper
image: 19 3/4 x 26 in. (50.2 x 66 cm)
Installation view, Effects of Good Government in the Pit, Astrup Fearnley Museet, September 22, 2017 – January 28, 2018. Photo: Christian Øen.
Matias Faldbakken
Untitled (VHS), 2015
newspaper print on steel plate
27 1/2 x 15 3/4 in. (69.9 x 40 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
EUROPE IS BALDING, 2016
ceramic tiles and tile adhesive on entertainment center, video monitor, video: 12 minutes and 23 seconds
71 x 16 x 165 in. (180.3 x 40.6 x 419.1 cm)
Edition 2 (version 2) of 3, 1 AP
That Death of Which One Does Not Die, Kunsthalle Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, 2010.
Matias Faldbakken
Tiled Wheelbarrow Tray, 2016
Ceramic tiles and tile adhesive on wheelbarrow tray
9 5/8 x 26 1/8 x 32 1/2 in. (24.4 x 66.4 x 82.6 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Ceramic Muffler, 2016
ceramic tiles and tile adhesive on silencer
24 1/2 x 8 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. (62.2 x 22.2 x 14.6 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Tiled Pallet, 2016
Ceramic tiles and tile adhesive on pallet
6 1/8 x 31 5/8 x 48 in. (15.6 x 80.3 x 121.9 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Plaster Jacket (Home/Dreamer #2), 2016
polyester jacket, synthetic plaster, rebar, steel wire, Lascaux UV-glue, 8 prints on newsprint
30 3/8 x 35 1/2 x 9 7/8 in. (77.2 x 90.2 x 25.1 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Nesting Tables (The Errand), 2016
nesting tables, synthetic plaster, steel wire, Lascaux UV-glue, 7 prints on newsprint
23 3/8 x 23 5/8 x 39 3/8 in. (59.4 x 60 x 100 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Untitled (Canvas #104), 2015
newspaper print on canvas
60 x 60 x 1 1/3 in. (152.4 x 152.4 x 3.4 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Untitled (Stein), 2013
movie poster with backside facing out
50 x 66 in. (127 x 167.6 cm)
54.33 x 73.62 x 6.1 in. (138 x 187 x 15.5 cm)
War After Peace (After War), Neue Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen, Germany, 2010.
Matias Faldbakken
Ladder Pull #2, 2014
concrete barriers, aluminum ladders, nylon ratchet straps, canvas and leather sling straps
312 x 381 x 221 in. (792.5 x 967.7 x 561.3 cm)
26 ft x 31 ft 9 in. x 18 ft 5 in. (792.5 x 967.7 x 561.3 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Pizza Box Tower #01, 2014
concrete and cardboard remains
each piece: 1 x 24 x 24 in. (2.5 x 61 x 61 cm)
left tower (23 pieces), overall height: 40 in. (101.6 cm)
right tower (2 pieces), overall height: 3 1/2 in. (8.9 cm)
Matias Faldbakken
Untitled (Garbage Bag Grey #6), 2010
marker on plastic
48 x 15 1/2 in. (121.9 x 39.4 cm)
frame: 53 1/4 x 35 1/4 x 2 in. (135.3 x 89.5 x 5.1 cm)
