Kittens, poodles and nudes: Martin Eder’s 'beauty in filth'

Take some fluffy kittens, throw in some internet porn and add some groomed poodles—all feature in Berlin-based artist Martin Eder’s subversive practice which turns “fine art” on its head. Works from the past ten years and newer pieces will go on show in Eder’s largest solo exhibition to date next month at Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery in South London (Parasites; 26 September-13 January 2019). Look out for the Inescapable Unity of Love (2010-18) featuring an oversized King Charles spaniel cast against a stormy sky. “I look for beauty in filth. You find the most interesting colours at motorway service areas and in the bushes: a mixture of crisp packets, trainers, vomit and tufts of hair,” Eder said last year. “These are colour combinations that artists seldom look at. Poetry lies hidden beneath the kitchen sink” (incidental fascinating facts: Eder told Purple Diary magazine that he was once a body-painting clown in a swingers sex club. He was also a founding member of the metal group Ruin).