NOW HERE, THEN THERE: PART 1, spotlight on Troels Wörsel

Susanne and Troels Wörsel began working together in the mid 1980s having met at IE-Graphic, a Copenhagen-based printmaking studio where Susanne was working (up until 1979) and Wörsel making lithographs.

In 1985, they realised Wörsel’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, a painting show of his ‘Madbilleder’ (food pictures) in Store Kongensgade.

When not painting, you were likely to find the artist in the kitchen! Wörsel was a passionate cook and had a particular fondness for classic French cuisine. Much of his inspiration for recipes and artworks alike came from his admiration of the great French chefs – Paul Bocuse, the Troisgros brothers and Alain Ducasse, whose work he knew intimately. Susanne remembers making pasta by hand in their Store Kongensgade apartment, using kitchen furniture to keep the strands aloft.

The second exhibition they realised at the apartment featured paintings from his ‘Vinetiketter’ (wine labels) series where the artist would overlay and paint the depictions and text from the bottles. The resulting paintings appeared to have no definite ‘top’ or ‘bottom’. A fine example from this series – painted in 1988 – will feature in part 1 of our anniversary exhibition, which opens tomorrow!

Wörsel was also present in Gothersgade from the very beginning, featuring both in the major group show ‘Skulls’ which opened in 1989 and with a solo show of new paintings in November of the same year.

Captured here, some lost footage of Susanne walking through the group show – you can see three of Wörsel’s infamous skull and crossbones paintings on the top left, and a very large diptych by the artist in the middle and right.