- Visual art

11 juli 202511 juli 2025

MAN’S WORLD

Hereby I present my latest artwork to you:
MAN’S WORLD

Acrylic on canvas

180 x 100 cm

2025

Part of the Brave New World series

James Brown cried; ‘It’s Mans World’,

‘Do you know that man makes money

To buy from other man

………………………………………….

This is a man’s world

But it wouldn’t be nothing, nothing

Not one little thing without a woman or a girl

…………………………………………

He’s lost in the wilderness

He’s lost in bitterness

He’s lost, lawd have mercy now, in loneliness‘

……………………………………………

I’ve condensed it a little on the key points.

And then I imagined Joe Jackson replied with his Real Men;

…………………………………………….

‘What’s a man now? What’s a man mean?

Is he rough or is he rugged? Is he cultural and clean?

Now it’s all changed, it’s got to change more

‘Cause we think it’s getting better but nobody’s really sure

……………………………………………………………………

And so it goes, go ‘round again

But now and then we wonder who the real men are

……………………………………………………………………

Time to get scared, time to change plan

Don’t know how to treat a lady, don’t know how to be a man

Time to admit what you call defeat

‘Cause there’s women running past you now and you just drag your feet

………………………………………………………………….

Man makes a gun, man goes to war

Man can kill and man can drink and man can take a whore

Kill all the blacks, kill all the reds

And if there’s war between the sexes then there’ll be no people left

…………………………………………………………………………

And so it goes, go ‘round again

But now and then we wonder who the real men are.‘

………………………………………………………………………..

And again me condensing it on key points…… but still, a mans point of view on men and I agree on it.

Mans World By James Brown:

Real men by Joe Jackson

2 juli 20252 juli 2025

Met gepaste trots presenteer ik Stichting Het Zwols Stadsatelier. Vrijdag 20 juni J.L. opgericht en statutair vastgelegd en bij de notaris beëdigd (heet dat zo?) Samen met Gina Draaisma en Jos Mulder vorm ik nu het 3 koppige bestuur van een concept wat hopelijk binnen nu en 6 maanden vaste vorm gaat krijgen.

Omdat we nog volop in een onderzoeksfase zitten en nog allerlei punten op I’s moeten zetten, zeg ik er inhoudelijk nog niet te veel over.

Wel kan ik zeggen dat we hele vruchtbare gesprekken hebben gehad met beleidsmakers en leegstandbeheerders. Het is nog best een ingewikkelde maar mooie culturele, sociaal maatschappelijke puzzel die we moeten leggen.

Meer hierover volgt maar dit eerste concrete wapenfeit wilde ik vast met jullie delen.

Ik bedank de regeling ‘Oog voor Impuls’ die deze onderzoeksfase/verkenning mede mogelijk heeft gemaakt.

Wordt vervolgd.

Denk je toch hierin iets te kunnen of willen betekenen, mail of bel mij.

(English version)

With pride I present The Zwols Stadsatelier Foundation. Friday, June 20, J.L. established and statutory and sworn in at the notary (is that how it’s called?) Together with Gina Draaisma and Jos Mulder, I now form the 3-person board of a concept that will hopefully take shape within the next 6 months.

Because we are still in a research phase and still have to fill in some blancs, I won’t say too much about the content.

What I can say is that we have had very fruitful discussions with policy makers and vacancy managers. It is still quite a complicated but beautiful cultural, social puzzle that we have to put together.

More on this will follow but I wanted to share this first concrete achievement with you.

I would like to thank the ‘Oog voor Impuls’ (Eye for Impulse) organization that made this research phase/exploration possible.

To be continued.

Do you think you can or want to mean something in this, please mail or call me.

30 juni 202514 juli 2025

EXHIBITION: How Can a Person Lose Everything He Owns And Not Lose His Mind, a joined venture.

(Nederlandse versie)

How can a person lose everything he owns and not lose his mind? -exhibition

A special sales exhibition at MICKSART in Emmen, NL, by two artists from Gaza: Ahmed Aldaalsa and Hussain Al Jerjawi. They both depict, as artists, eyewitnesses and suffering subjects from the very start, the hopelessness, violence and dejection in a devastated Gaza.

This exhibition is an initiative by me, Marit Otto and MICKSART gallery owner, Erik Knegt.

The exhibition will run simultaneously with the Harvest exhibition from July 20 to November 9, 2025. In this exhibition some of my latest artworks will be on display as well: Speechless, Sea Of Tranquility and A Mans World (a work in progress).

Auction: Especially for this theme, a pair of curated bio-based sneakers from the Saye brand, X- Made by Marit will also be auctioned and the proceeds will go to Doctors Without Borders. Bidding is possible during the opening of both exhibitions.

Visit this exhibition and group exhibition Harvest at MICKSART
from 20 July to 09 November 2025

Captain Grantstraat 24 | T: 06-57193375| E: info@micksartgallery.nl
Opening hours Monday through Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Different times can be arranged for groups

Revenues go directly to Ahmed and Hussain

Pre sale: https://maritotto.nl/pre-sale-how-can-anyone-lose-everything-he-owns-and-not-lose-his-mind/

Artworks can be picked up at the end of the exhibition – 09 november.

28 mei 202528 mei 2025

Artistic message from Gaza 03: WALL

(Dutch version)

In this post I feature a drawing made by Hussain Al Jerjawi, a young artist from Gaza (17)

Hussain is a student of Ahmed Aldaalsa from whom I showcased his work earlier.

Ahmed has been a guest artist on my website since 2024, since his exhibition in Kunstruimte het Langhuis Zwolle titled Gaza’24. Hussain is joining him there now as writer Tasneem Ayyad does too.

Hussains drawings tell the same story as Ahmed. Now the situation in Gaza is interpreted through his eyes and hands and again he gives us a glance of the situation in Gaza.

Soon both artists Ahmed and Hussain will showcase their work in a Dutch Gallery, MicksArt Collectief in Emmen. More about that soon

The situation in Gaza is pure horror. Yesterday I heard on the news that even the food aid by the Israeli – American GFH is controversial. It is used as a weapon and contributes to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war aims. People got shot and died during the distribution of (too little) food and medicine. The UN has rejected the controversial US-Israeli aid plan and is not involved.

Want to help these young artists? Soon their prints will be available but until then you can help them by donating to their Go- Funding Page, it can be found on my guestpages.

Hussain: https://maritotto.nl/guest-hussain-al-jerjawi/
Ahmed: https://maritotto.nl/guest-ahmed-aldaalsa/
Tasneem: https://maritotto.nl/guest-tasneem-ayyad/

23 mei 202523 mei 2025

Life Is Too Short

(Nederlandse versie)

Hereby I present my latest work, Life Is Too Short, To you

Life is too Short- 2025 — Life is Too Short- Digital artprint (on Dibond) 90cm x 150 cm x 0,5 mm- 2025

Life is too short to be negative.

Life is too fickle to be naive

Life is too dynamic to be relaxed

Life is too unfair to be positive

Life ends that makes it relative.

This image is a digital collage of pictures I made in Rome (2022) Man holding his head and massaging his temples was posted on a bridge crossing the Tiber, the Tiber is now flooding behind the man, the graffiti found on a wall somewhere in Rome. La Grande Bellezza.

9 mei 202515 mei 2025

W.I.P. (work in Progress)

Meet & Greet – Expositie Wankel Evenwicht – Kunst in het Hoogkoor- Academiehuis Zwolle 15-05-25.

De expositie Wankel Evenwicht is een uitkomst van een sociaal onderzoek. In aanloop naar deze expositie ben ik samen met collega kunstenaars en cultuurmakers de schoolbankjes weer in gegaan (Cibap Next) en hebben we ons licht opgestoken over social design. Met dezelfde groep kunstenaars en studenten hebben we vervolgens data verzameld uit verschillende Zwolse wijken.

Ik heb samen met collega Marian Visscher – Benjamins Visscher en ArtEZ University of the Arts-student Abe Damen, op ludieke wijze passanten in het winkelcentrum van Stadshagen bevraagd met grote universele vragen als: ‘Wat verbindt ons?’ en ‘Wat verdeelt ons?’. De opbrengst van deze vragen is het vertrekpunt geweest voor mijn ontwerp van de W.I.P. (work in progress), zoals te zien in de expositie.

Maar het verhaal gaat verder, en het onderzoek, op een bepaalde manier, eigenlijk ook. Er staat een grote jute zak met de letters ZAAI in de ruimte en in die zak zitten zonnebloem pitten. Bezoekers worden gevraagd een handje zaden ergens op de W.I.P te leggen, keuze uit de woorden IK, WIJ of ZIJ.

Dagelijks wordt de opbrengst van deze zaden geoogst en wordt het verdeeld over de IK, WIJ, ZIJ zakjes die aan de muur hangen. Deze zakjes worden wekelijks geleegd en (de woorden) gewogen. Het gewicht per woord representeert natuurlijk iets. Iets wat ook voor veel uitleg vatbaar is maar vooral symbolische waarde heeft.

We zitten in de derde week en in de weging van afgelopen week kwam WIJ met de oogst van 1,5 kilo zonnebloemzaden als meest gewichtige woord uit de bus.

Cultuurmaker en tevens deelnemer, Jolan Van de Waeter, distribueert de zonnebloemzaden ‘as we speak’ ook weer terug de wijken in.

Aanstaande donderdag ga ik weer een tussenweging doen en je bent van harte uitgenodigd om meer gewicht in spreekwoordelijke schaal te leggen en ook met mij of collega Marian (kunstwerk: Verwonder) die er ook is in gesprek te gaan

Verder is er werk te bewonderen van: Jan Pieter Gootjes, Ludie Klamer en Everdien Post.

Waar: Academiehuis Zwolle || Kunst in het Hoogkoor. De expositie is tot 08 juni te zien.

Expositie Wankel Evenwicht

8 mei 20258 mei 2025

JE SUIS…

Every cruelty against Gaza is a cruelty to all of us,
its a insult to everything I believe in, and what we have learned to believe in.

Every new day that people die by violence inflicted on them, you kill part of me, a part of us.
and everything we ever believed in.

Every new day that people suffer because of the medical aid that is deprived of them, sickens me.

Every new day people are starving because of the food you denied them, starves the concept of humanity
and everything we believed in.

Is this how you want to go down in history, is this your legacy ?

a message for Benjamin Netanyahu

16 april 202529 april 2025

Expositie Wankel Evenwicht

(English version)

Wankel Evenwicht is een groepsexpositie in het Hoogkoor van het Academiehuis, Zwolle. De expositie is van 25.04.25 tot 08.06.25. Deelnemers: Everdien Post – Marian Dorothe Visscher – Jan Pieter Gootjes – Ludie Gootjes Klamer en Jolan van de Waeter en ikzelf, Marit Otto

Opening 25 april om 11u – Academiehuis Zwolle. Welkom!

Speciaal voor deze expositie heb ik de kunstinstallatie W.I.P. (Work In Progress) gemaakt. Een interactieve installatie van 4 meter breed en 2 meter hoog. Waarover ik later meer zal vertellen.

De expositie Wankel Evenwicht is een bijzondere verkenning van het maatschappelijke thema: “Hoe kunnen we samen leven” in een tijd van verandering. Deze tentoonstelling is het resultaat van een unieke samenwerking tussen zes Zwolse kunstenaars, ontwerpers en de gemeenschap, waarin kunst en erfgoed samenkomen om de complexe vraagstukken van onze samenleving aandacht te geven en in beweging te krijgen.

W.I.P. in Academiehuis Zwolle - Expositie Wankel Evenwicht — W.I.P. in Academiehuis Zwolle

Deze tentoonstelling is geen eindpunt, maar een startpunt voor gesprekken, bewustwording en actie. Laten we samen verder verkennen en ontdekken wat het betekent om echt samen te leven.

‍

24 maart 20252 april 2025

Artistic message from Gaza

(Nederlandse versie)

In this post I feature the latest work ‘No time to recover’ and WAR by Ahmed Aldaalsa, an artist from Gaza (March/April 2025)

No time to recover - by Ahmed Aldaalsa - Gaza — No time to recover – by Ahmed Aldaalsa – Gaza

Ahmed about this drawing:
“Well this person is me and I am trying to talk in this work about not recovering because you know the war is back again so I did not take enough time for my mind and body to recover and now I feel very scattered and also I am holding a cactus in my hand which is a symbol of patience here in Palestine“

While Gaza is, still and again, under siege by Netanyahu’s army. Ahmed and his family are still trying to survive and overcome this devastating defeat. But like the titel of his latest drawing, he is not able to recover this intense and brutal crimes against them. While most Gazans drown in silent despair, Ahmed can still draw us a picture.

Ahmed’s story is the story of many Gazans; their situation is dire and distressing. I gave Ahmed a guest page on my website in July 2024 and exhibited his work in art space the Langhuis Zwolle. You can read more about it at https://maritotto.nl/guest-page/ or https://www.langhuis.nl/expected-gaza-24/.

I am fully aware of my own lack of power but I think it is still important that the story, including the personal and in this case the artistic story, continues to be told and that the eyes of the world remain on Gaza (and the West Bank). Also, it is my indictment of Netanyahu, I hope justice will be done.

WAR - drawing by Ahmed Aldaalsa - Gaza — WAR – drawing by Ahmed Aldaalsa – Gaza

Detail of No time to recover'. The catus is symbol for patience in Gaza. — Detail of No time to recover’ – Holding cactus meaning ‘patience’

Do you wish to support/help Ahmed? check this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-get-ahmed-and-his-family-to-safety

10 maart 202513 maart 2025

Enable & Disable

(Nederlandse versie)

Hereby I present my latest artworks to you; ‘Enable & Disable (diptych)

Acrylic on canvas

50 x 50 x 1cm each

2025

Enable and disable; these words hold power to switch on or off. Each time we are asked to enable or disable we take a turn in one direction. This trivial action may have implications.

As individuals we sometimes seem and feel powerless but together we can be a force of change, if we choose to.

Sadly, the global unregulated free market in its current form has been proving destructive to the planet but is now endangering our democracies as well.

At the root of every product is a producer, but then there is also, ultimately, a user. We are that users. Without a user a producer is a king without a kingdom, an empty, harmless shell. So what we as consumers do, buy and use matters. We are able to enable and disable. Switch on and off. With every purchase, we enable someone at the end of the line. We are able to make kings rise and fall and disable or enable anyone who can or can’t handle our confidence and saves or steals our future.