Hereby I present my latest work, Life Is Too Short, To you
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.
In this post I feature the latest work ‘No time to recover’ and WAR by Ahmed Aldaalsa, an artist from Gaza (March/April 2025)
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.
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.
The paintings Virgin Screen 01 and 02 and #Do You Follow Me and #Are You Following Me, are on display again starting this week at Nel , sustainable design at Waddenweg 3a in Amsterdam.
For a couple of years I have had a special cooperation with Jorrit Tol (Nel). Stop by to see my work but certainly also to check out his special sustainable design furniture.
The artworks are selected from the Brave New World series
More about Nel: https://www.nel.nl/
More about Brave New World: https://maritotto.nl/brave-new-world-2018-2/
Wonderful news, my painting ‘ Last Gatekeepers Of Lost Revolutions’ has been shortlisted in the Singulart International Women’s Day 2025 Award!
The jury states that it stands out with its unique perspective on the theme of (female) Bravery.
About the work itself:
Hovering female figures spreading their arms wide open and floating around. They are jumping and moving simultaneously. They are clearly present and strong. The last gatekeepers is referring to a world where young men, the proverbial sons, are sent to war by other men. This is why, I believe, when women rule, wars will end. No mother in her right mind will ever send her child voluntarily to a war, any war.
Last Gatekeepers Of Lost Revolutions is part of the Metropolitan series and is currently on display in Bruxelles handled by Bernice, Art Rental and Gallery in Temse.
Check this work at; https://www.singulart.com/nl/kunstwerken/marit-otto-last-gatekeepers-of-lost-revolutions-54563
More about the Metropolitan series: https://maritotto.nl/metropolieten-2017-2/
Anxious to hear the final verdict, I’ll keep you posted!
Sea Of Tranquility 2025
Acrylic on canvas
155 x 90
Part of the Brave New World series
This painting features 7 alienated versions of me.
I am not truly at ease with the concept of AI, but as an image creator, I felt the need to know where the future of image creation is heading. So I started my first investigation into AI in Photoshop.
I used a recent picture of myself and simply instructed the conceptual toolbar: ‘’improve‘’. The result of this one instruction was a bit of horror meets a VR-loving alien. A surprising and baffling introduction to AI, but not really a compliment.
I now imagine that in its eyes, my request for improvement could only lead to something that would visually resemble a physical version of itself, just like the creator who created humankind in his own image. As uncanny as this outcome was, it inspired me to create this canvas on which a more sympathetic version of this raw first artificial draft, times seven, rises from a restless sea of tranquillity.
I thank AI for this inspiration, but I am not sure if I will become a frequent flyer, though; probably I will and without knowing that I do, just like the rest of us. She is beyond us.
I’m not sure our lives will get better with AI and all that it embeds and will encapsulate in the future.
If it were up to me (it is not), I would rather live life with all its beautiful, natural imperfections and oddities with the certainty of death than become a servant of a perfect faceless system with a poor imagination.
This painting is handmade.
Happy to report that my painting “Turist” found a new and very loving home this week. Sold to an art enthusiast from Zwolle and it fits beautifully there.
Blij te melden dat mijn schilderij ‘Turist’ deze week een nieuw en heel fijn thuis heeft gevonden. Ze is verkocht aan een Zwolse kunstliefhebber en het hangt er prachtig.
Pen and ink on paper 70 x70 x 2 cm
Hereby I introduce my latest artwork ‘Fly Now Pay Later’ to you
If only we had wings and winged words that could fly us everywhere
If only we could save our last treads of evaporating fantasy
A free flight to the middle of nowhere
We will compensate,
later.
(voor Nederlandse versie klik hier)
Hereby I present my latest artwork,
Futile Fish Eyed Vitreous Gaze, to you.
Part of the Side Show Series
Thats me staring back at you
Hiding behind the cameralens
Exploring the room with me in it
It seems a whole universe with me on it, I’m on it.
A special occasion; Singulart art sale until December 01.
30% off- check it out.
