Published in september 2025 – by Dirk vanDuffel (klik hier voor Nederlandse versie)

Power, History, and Change: The Art of Marit Otto

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Dutch artist Marit Otto experiences art on many levels and in many different ways. She looks for aesthetics and eloquence but also for a particular angle. 

Marit Otto creates contemporary engaged art. She says: “It has a certain urgency. It is reflecting us, people and the zeitgeist. Images speak louder than words and basically appeal very directly to our feelings. My images are something of a mix between activism and philosophy, they want to engage in dialogue.”

ArtDependence (AD): How does your work reflect your view of the world right now?

Marit Otto (MO): My work is a reflection of the Zeitgeist. It’s what I distract from the daily news, developments, movements and fashions. Questions it provokes, sadness it arouses, anger that it sparkles need to find their ways into something visual and meaningful.  Everything eventually solidifies into an image that hopefully radiates something universal, embodies beauty and is also identifiable as critical or/and philosophical. The image may be abrasive, provocative and controversial, but it must also be attractive. It must appeal to the viewer. 

This appeal is essential so that, after their initial encounter with the image, viewers feel compelled to explore it further.

AD: What role do you think art plays in connecting people today?

MO: To be honest, I have mixed feelings. On one hand we see an increase of art lovers all over the world. It has become less elitair and accessible for the masses. That’s a good development. On the other hand we see that commerce is getting a vast grip on every aspect of art in every art discipline.  It has more and more become so intertwined with capitalistic motives. While I truly believe, artists should be independent in their minds and souls. Their talents should not be used for mere financial gain and profits but to offer the world an alternative route or narrative. I believe that art is essential for connection and nuanced communication. But, that being said, also for a bit of fresh air in the minds and hearts.

AD: What message or feeling do you hope viewers take away from your art?

MO: I hope to shake them up a little and make them contemplate about the topics I present to them. This is my message always; there are alternative routes to the one we are all walking now. Change is up to us. But for seekers of beauty I hope to meet their expectations too. Celebrating beauty in art is not vain.

AD: Can you tell us the story behind the artwork artwork, Man’s World, painted this year.

MO:  We see a few men toying and tossing around with a blue ball, resembling the earth. One of them pushing the biggest ball has a likeness with Sisyphus, a figure from Greek Mythology. Sisyphus was a cunning man but made the mistake to challenge the Gods. Time and again he managed to escape the wrath of the gods, but in doing so he only made his ultimate punishment worse. His penalty was that he had to push a boulder up a mountain in Tartarus until the end of time. 

There are a few hooks in this respect with this day and age where men challenge Gods and her creations in many disrespectful ways. What and who this challenged God is and what it represents is something that differs for each individual. Yet we are all witnesses to the dismantling of her creation. You could say whomever God is: supernatural, a miracle or nature,  she’s used and exploited by fickle men with egoist mindsets.

The rock that is eternally pushed up the mountain represents history, which, though
possibly in a variety of guises, repeats itself endlessly. I would add: without genuinely learning from it. The other men in the picture are no celebs in this regard, but merely a group that enthusiastically and devotedly follows a supreme leader, which is the one manifesting itself by masculine scream and roar.

Read whole article at: https: //artdependence.com/articles/power-history-and-change-the-art-of-marit-otto/

Main Image: Marit Otto, Man’s World, Acrylic on canvas

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