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3.9.-11.9. Martin Dahlström-Heuser: BATHE IN GOLD


OPENING / AVAJAISET TUE 3.9, 18-21


Exhibition 4-11 Sept. 2024 — Opening hours 14:00-18:00


Asbestos Art Space — Kristianinkatu 16, 00170 Helsinki


Since 2021, I’ve been experimenting with urine as a material, using it both as a pigment and natural light filter. Urine, historically a tool in medical diagnostics and fetishised in subcultures, is also rich in visual irony. Its golden hue contrasts sharply with its often repulsive associations, evoking images of golden ages, golden opportunities, and the promise of a golden future.


This exhibition immerses visitors in this duality. Glass bottles filled with urine, lit from below, bathe the space in a warm, golden light, hopefully challenging traditional notions of beauty. A series of paintings created from concentrated urine covered in epoxy resin explores the tension between the medium’s humble origins and the rich tones it produces. The exhibition also features golden silhouettes of anal plugs, contrasting its motif with the materiality of real gold, and cloud-like drawings formed by bouncing a charcoal-dusted tennis ball.

Martin Dahlström-Heuser (born in Brazil, based in Helsinki) is a transdisciplinary artist with a background in music composition and fine arts. His education includes a Bachelor's degree in Music Composition from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, a Master of Fine Arts with Specialisation in Digital Media from the Gothenburg University (GU), Sweden, and a Master's degree in Visual Cultures, Curating, and Contemporary Art from Aalto University, Finland.


In his works, Martin attempts to question authority and established truths often through strategies that resemble games. He is interested in how consensus is created in Western contemporary societies through hidden forms of coercion and subtle (or not-so-subtle) brutality. These concepts materialise in works ranging from video installations to scale models and from monochrome paintings to printed text.

Bathe in Gold is supported by the Oskar Öflunds Stiftelse, Arts Promotion Centre Finland (TAIKE) and The Finnish Cultural Foundation (SKR).

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