Leif Sylvester

In 2025, Leif Sylvester turned 85 years old. For over five decades, he has shown his desire for freedom and his social indignation through paintings, sculptures, film, music, street performance, and lyrics. We mark this at the Workers Museum with the exhibition about the multi-disiplinary artist: Leif Sylvester – Flying Free, named after Erik Clausen and Leif Sylvester’s freedom and workers’ song from 1978.

The exhibition is on display until August 2, 2026

the courage to go your own way

The exhibition conveys Leif Sylvester’s love of living freely, which, for him, is closely linked to art and is found in everyday life.

It takes us through the art and life phases that characterise Leif Sylvester. From his first attempts at painting in different styles as a young carpenter to his colourful, imaginative, and expressive paintings.

In the exhibition, we meet him as a visual artist first and foremost, but also as part of the legendary jester and artist duo Clausen & Petersen, as a musician, actor, writer – and as a person who draws his values from the working class in which he was born and raised.

Freedom is daring

Leif Sylvester’s artistic vision is based on a desire for freedom. Even when he returned to visual art in the late 1980s, he sought a practice outside the established and familiar, where he gave, and continues to give, a voice to those who are not always heard.

“When we performed in the streets, we said: ‘Do what you think you can’t do’. And that has always been the common thread in my work. In the past, there was probably a perception that as an artist, you couldn’t be loved by the people and recognised on the mountain. I’ve always felt closer to the people than the mountain. It’s deep in me to always side with the weakest,” says Leif Sylvester.

The Workers Museum has a vision to bring those who are often in the background of the big stories to the front – and tell about the communities and struggles that have shaped modern society.

“Leif Sylvester’s art is carried by sincerity and an untamed desire to express himself. He grew up in the working class and has managed to hold on to his social starting point throughout his artistic work. It therefore feels right that the Workers Museum is the perfect place for his story and his works to unfold,” says Søren Bak-Jensen, director of the Workers Museum.

The exhibition will be on display until August 2, 2026.