by Phin Jennings

Danish painter Lasse Thorst lives and works in Aalborg, the northern part of Denmark. Following a ten-year break, Thorst took up painting again in 2018, inspired by a trip to Vietnam where he was introduced to ancient lacquer painting techniques and rediscovered his love of painting. He holds a bachelor in visual arts teaching from the Aalborg Seminarium and a Master of Globalization and Integration from the Syddansk Universitet in Odense. He also attended the Aarhus Academy of Fine Art in 2019.

As a Nordic painter, Thorst is particularly interested in the classical landscape. For him, it is a setting for subjects who are placed in these – for them – unfamiliar scenarios. His characters are based on archetypes and symbolic stock characters from folklore, literature and art. Romantic figures like the clown, the magician and the artist weave their own idiosyncratic kind of realism into the paintings. Ambiguity exists everywhere, and perhaps the most honest paintings are those that embrace it. Thorst is part of a centuries-old expressionistic tradition of painters who have avoided simple realism, employing unexpected colours and forms in the pursuit of a truer portrayal of the world. This is a kind of realism that goes deeper than appearances, and allows the viewer to relate to the paintings on their own terms.

The landscapes that he paints are deeply personal. Inspired by a combination of memory and old photographs, they always relate to Thorst's own surroundings. His familiar-but-mysterious characters and the timeless spaces they inhabit make for romantic visions where tradition meets the new, the unknown; where doubts and hopes melt together in a vibrant, colorful and dynamic language. Thorst works without sketching, instead testing his ideas directly on canvas. He works quickly, rhythmically, with oil paint. 

His work is held in various prominent collections including: The Bech Risvig Collection (DK), Soho House Collection (Int.), Martin Nielsen Collection (DK), CCA Andratx Kunsthalle Collection (ES), LHOUIS Collection (DE), Kirsten & Stefan Mordhorst Collection (DK), Horseradish Art Collection (DK), Berit Ernst Collection (DK), Pier5 Hotel, Spar Nord Bank Collection, A. Enggaard Collection and Arctic Sounds Collection (GL). His solo exhibition Sinners Feast at the Spring/Break art show in L.A. (2022) was featured in Untitled Magazine and highlighted as 'best art on spring/break' on Artnet.

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Selected solo and two-person exhibitions include:

2024     'Silver Linings' Annika Nuttall Gallery

2024     'Hey hey, My my' Lasse Thorst + Morten Løbner Espersen, Galerie Wolfsen, Denmark

2023     Lasse Thorst + Camilla Skov, SWAB art fair, Barcelona Spain

2023     'Under a Marquee Moon' Albert Contemporary, Denmark

2022     'Sinners Feast' SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Los Angeles USA

 

Selected group exhibitions include:

2025     'Bitten by the bug' HEART Herning Museum Of Contemporary Art, Denmark

2025     'The place you can't remember. The place you can't forget' Von Wegen, Hamburg DE

2025     'Sommerudstillingen' Galerie Moderne, Silkeborg Denmark     

2025     'Transmute LA' John Wolf Art, Los Angeles USA

2025     'New Mythologies' CCA Kunsthalle, Andratx Mallorca Spain   

2024     'AOAP' Gathering London, United Kingdom

2023     'Perchance to Dream' Annika Nuttall Gallery, Århus Denmark

2023     Sotheby’s, Palais Oppenheim, Cologne Germany

2023     'Summer Selection' Marrow Gallery, San Francisco USA

2023     'The Flesh and the Answer' AOAP, (Soho Revue) London United Kingdom

2022     'Our Winter Show' Gallery Steinsland Berliner, Stockholm Sweden

2022     'Watch Me Burn' Ruttkowski;68, Paris France

2022     'Delphian Open Call Winners' Unit1 Gallery, London United Kingdom

2022     'Road to Somewhere' The Room, London United Kingdom

2022     'A Drawing Show' VO Curations, London United Kingdom

2021     'Figurative Samplers' Det Ny Kastet - Exhibition Space for Contemporary Art, Thisted DK

2021     'Gelée Royale' Galerie Rompone, Cologne Germany

2021     'Emergence' Rise Art Gallery, Soho London United Kingdom

2021     'Vol ll.' Á Mon Avis, Copenhagen Denmark

2020     'Phoenix' Galerie Rompone, Cologne Germany

2019     Kunstbygningen Filosoffen, Odense Denmark

2019     Art Weekend Aarhus, Aarhus academy of fine art, Århus Denmark

 

Selected Art Fairs include:

2025     Art Herning Denmark w. Annika Nuttall Gallery

2024     Enter Art Fair w. Annika Nuttall Gallery

2024     Art Herning Denmark w. Annika Nuttall Gallery   

2023     SWAB Art Fair, Barcelona Spain

2023     Alianait arts festival, Iqaluit Nunavut

2023     Enter Art Fair, Copenhagen Denmark

2023     Art Herning Denmark

2022     SPRING/BREAK, Los Angeles USA

2022     Art Herning Denmark

2020     LA Art Show, Los Angeles USA

2019     Art Herning, Denmark

 

Decorations:

2025     Book cover, Jesper Wung-Sung "Mens vi er", Gyldendal 

2024     Illums Bolighus, Copenhagen

2024     Soho Home, London

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Prices/grants:

Delphian Open Call winners 2022, Danish Arts Foundation.

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Residencies:

CCA, Andratx, Mallorca Spain 2024

Art Residency, Sisimiut, Greenland 2023

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​Paperwork Collaborations:

Litografisk Atelier (litografisk.dk), Original Paper Works (originalpaperworks.com),

Later Editions London, Format Artspace (Copenhagen), Art on a Postcard etc.

 

Recent press:

 Prazzle Issue Magazine, july 2025: interview "The Element Of Surprise" 

​Kunstavisen, 08/2024 "Myth Painting": Solo exhibition 'Silver Linings' review

Tidsskriftet Kulturinformation august 2024, 4 star review of Solo exhibition 'Silver Linings'

Rise Art august 2023: interview "Ambiguity And Realism With Lasse Thorst"

Kunstavisen, 11/2023: group exhibition review

Magasinet Kunst, November 2022: interview: "At male er en kamp"

Untitled Magazine 2022: highlights from Spring/Break art fair

Artnet.com: The Best Art Of Spring/Break Los Angeles 2022

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