Danish recycling artist Thomas Dambo, known for creating nearly 200 wooden troll sculptures hidden in natural settings across 19 countries, is staging his first museum exhibition. Titled "The Garbage Man," the show opens at the Arken Museum of Contemporary Art near Copenhagen and runs until November 29. The exhibit imagines a group of mischievous trolls taking over the museum and building a giant human figure from trash as a cautionary tale about waste. Dambo, a former hip-hop artist and poet, began his troll project in 2014 and has since attracted millions of online viewers and an estimated 5 million annual visitors to his outdoor works.
This exhibition matters because it marks a significant shift for an artist whose practice has been defined by public, treasure-hunt-style installations in forests and remote areas. By moving indoors, Dambo can experiment with materials that would not survive outdoors, such as discarded electronics, cardboard, and clothing, while amplifying his environmental message about overconsumption. The show also highlights the growing trend of street art and eco-conscious public art entering mainstream museum spaces, bridging outdoor discovery with institutional critique.