In her exhibition Fredrika Biström examines our views on appearances, aesthetics and tradition – what is considered right or wrong in that context. The exhibition has its background in a two year long process where the photographs were created in a studio in collaboration with the models. The images are based on interactions with chosen objects.

The title of the exhibition, Utility Room, refers to an attempt to objectify ugliness and look at things that are hidden. A utility room works as an example of today’s ideals, a specific space in the house where we hide the daily chores, even though the whole house is built for use.

Biström has previously in her work looked at topics like money, power, heterosexual stereotypes, feminism and family ideals. She sees personal space, like the body and the home, as tools in the social theatre performed between people.

”I’m intrigued by small changes, made bigger through photography. Criticising norms is at the base of my artistic work and I enjoy when my art reaches outside of my own circle and is exhibited in unexpected places – or when it is distributed in various ways, like through publications or social media,” says Fredrika Biström.

Fredrika Biström (b. 1980) is a photographer, graduated in 2011 from the Aalto University in Helsinki. Biström works both on her own as well as in collaboration with other artists. Her works have been shown both in galleries and in the public space, from the EuroPride Festival in Stocholm to the Night of the Arts in Helsinki.

24 April – 17 May 2015
FREDRIKA BISTRÖM
Utility Room

Photographic Gallery Hippolyte
Yrjönkatu 8–10 courtyard, 00120 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Tue–Fri 12–17, Sat–Sun 12–16
Closed 30 April – 1 May 2015 & 14 May 2015

(Image: Fredrika Biström, Christmas Center)