Uncanny and playful when Arvida Byström exhibits at Dunkers kulturhus in Helsingborg

The artist Arvida Byström has chosen Dunkers kulturhus in Helsingborg for her first large-scale solo exhibition in Sweden, on view from 4 April – 4 August. Visitors are invited into a whimsical and slightly uncomfortable experience as Arvida Byström examines the role of the body from an online and commercial perspective.

Swedish artist Arvida Byström has become well-known for her artistic investigating of norms, femininity and the social and economic stipulations of the internet. The predominant colour in the exhibition is pink and mainly features the artist’s own body to avoid objectifying anyone else’s.

- In this exhibition, I explore what place the body has online, what place bodies should have online and who makes money from bodies online, says Arvida Byström.

The exhibition Cut the Cake at Dunkers kulturhus will only be showing newly produced work, with a focus on “expanded photography” such as AI-generated photo collage, 3D-scanned sculptures and video.

Arvida Byström uses the camera on a mobile phone to achieve the same everyday, documentary effect of an ordinary person living in modern society.

One of Arvida Byström’s favourite works in the exhibition at Dunkers kulturhus is an AI-photo collage of a hairy female leg that squeezes out fawns.

- It plays with a girly, online aesthetic that often depicts deer or other animals to express a sense of helplessness. It is cute, surrealistic and unsettling, comments Arvida Byström.

A digital native, Arvida Byström says she came of age and discovered herself and her artistic expression on the internet.

In her early teens, she started out by publishing photos of herself. It gave her the opportunity to be creative without having to involve anyone else. Recreating herself and curating her feed is a way to explore identity, gender norms and censorship in social media.

Arvida Byström uses Instagram as her main exhibition space, has hundreds of thousands of followers and is constantly censored.

As a young person, she became a role model on social media and has since become an important figure for promoting other young people’s self-expression.

- Arvida Byström is one of Sweden’s most exciting contemporary artists. She navigates complex questions, challenges norms, and conveys an exceptional analysis of modern life. Cut the cake is Arvida Byström’s most comprehensive exhibition to date. It is maximalistic and shows completely new work. To be the first institution to show this exhibit is obviously extremely exciting, says Axel Swanstein, Exhibition producer at Dunkers kulturhus.

In connection with the opening, Arvida Byström is also publishing a book (Nuda publishers) that includes AI-developed photographs and texts by philosopher Slavoj Žižek, culture critic CM Edenborg, and author Olivia Kan-Sperling.

Facts:

Arvida Byström is from Stockholm and has worked in London, Los Angeles and New York.

Over the last few years, her work as been exhibited at institutions such as The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Ulay Foundation in Ljubljana, Musée National d'Histoire et d'Art in Luxemburg and Arken Museum of Contemporary Art in Denmark.

Together with the artist, Cut the cake is curated by Axel Swanstein from Dunkers kulturhus. Alex Quicho, writer, artist and theorist, has contributed an in-depth text about the exhibition.

Contacts:

Axel Swanstein, Exhibition producer Mobile +46 (0)721 783 067 E-mail axel.swanstein@helsingborg.se

Anna Rosenberg, press contact Mobile +46 (0) 732-31 57 36 E-mail anna.rosenberg@helsingborg.se