Exhibition Opening: Maria Torp: Transition

24 April 2026 
Overview
Open a larger version of the following image in a popup: Maria Torp, Japan, 2026, Oil and acrylic on cardboard, 13,5 x 53 cm
Maria Torp, Japan, 2026, Oil and acrylic on cardboard, 13,5 x 53 cm
17.00-19.00

It is with great pleasure that we invite you to the exhibition opening of Transition on Friday, April 24, from 17:00-19:00 - Maria Torp's first solo exhibition in the gallery.


The exhibition revolves around the moment when something shifts: politically, personally, or socially. The transition. The rupture. The passage. The exhibition consists of a series of large oil paintings on cardboard - a material Torp has worked with for many years, yet challenges in new ways through this exhibition, including by burning through the surface.

Flower Revolutions
At the core of the exhibition is a series of nine smaller flower portraits. Each flower bears the name of a historical revolution - from the Carnation Revolution in Portugal to the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan. The flower becomes a symbol of hope, rebellion, and the shift from one system to another. The series is brought together in a larger key work titled Revolution.

Torp is concerned with the feeling of living in a time of upheaval. In addition to the flower series, Transition presents a number of larger works that likewise revolve around the movement between past and future. One of the works shows a woman tearing the paper away to see what is hidden behind it - an image of our present marked by global unrest, political tensions, and a collective sense of quivering.

"The world is in a state of unrest, and the unsettled time we are moving through blends into our everyday lives. In my paintings, I explore some of the feelings this leaves us with. In this way, it becomes a personal and human matter," says Maria Torp.

Maria Torp (f. 1975) is a Danish artist based in Copenhagen, Denmark. She graduated with an MFA from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, after earlier studies at the London College of Printing. Torp's practice encompasses painting, drawing, and occasionally sculptural elements, with a distinct focus on the interaction of materials and the expressive potential of her chosen surfaces. A recurring feature in her work is her use of cardboard as a painting ground, which both challenges and enriches the visual impact of her works. Rooted in a hyperrealistic tradition, Torp's meticulous technique and sensitive handling of brush and line bring vitality and presence to her images. Her art engages with themes including social equality, the interplay between the personal and the global, and the complex conditions of human experience.

Torp has exhibited extensively in Denmark and internationally, including a recent large solo exhibition at Trapholt, Kolding (2024) among others and has exhibited at Mark Rothko Art Centre, Daugavpils; The Kastrupgård Collection, Kastrup; Holstebro Art Museum, Holstebro; Kunsthal Charlottenborg, Copenhagen; Gammel Strand, Copenhagen; Den Frie, Copenhagen and O-Overgaden, Copenhagen as well as in London, Amsterdam and Cape Town. Her artworks are held in public collections such as Trapholt, Vestjylland's Art Museum, Danish Arts Foundation, DK, The Velux Foundation, John A. Bennette Collection, US, Nykredit and the Mark Rothko Art Centre in Latvia.

Beyond her studio practice, Torp has written a book, MEGAPORTRÆTTER, on the project Shaping A Pattern, published by Gyldendal 2024 and made a documentary film, also called MEGAPORTRÆTTER launched by Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) 2025.

For more information about the exhibition and further works, please contact gallery@alicefolker.dk.