Otto: "Too little laughter in galleries and museums"

Comedian Otto Waalkes wants to create more humor in the art world with his pictures. "I always have the feeling that there is too little humor and even less laughter in galleries and museums," he said in Dresden at the opening of an exhibition of around 150 of his works. One of the comedian's best-known motifs is the figure of Ottifanten. This can also be found in numerous of his paintings, some of which parody well-known works of art by other famous painters.

Ottifant incorporated as a parody into old masterpieces

Otto had already familiarized himself with the technique of the Old Masters during his art studies. ". So I was able to parody the models I admired. And for me, parody is the most sincere form of veneration." When the viewer recognizes the famous model from afar and discovers an Ottifant up close, there is a surprise effect, Otto explained. "And if it turns into a smile, then my goal has been achieved."

The 77-year-old's paintings and prints can still be seen in the hotel chapel of the Taschenbergpalais Kempinski in Dresden's Old Town until the third of January. According to Galerie Walentowski, these include new originals and prints.

Otto has a special relationship with tea

A pigment print entitled "The Ottifant Girl" is one of the works on display - based on the painting "The Chocolate Girl", which hangs in the Old Masters Picture Gallery in Dresden. In Otto's work, however, there is an Ottifant-shaped teapot on the tray "with a great East Frisian pattern", as the artist emphasizes. Otto saw the original in Dresden. "And that inspired me so much." Otto also often uses tea as a primer for his canvases to give the whole thing an "old masterly patina".

Waalkes, who is best known for his work as a comedian, musician and actor, studied art education at the Hamburg University of Fine Arts in the 1970s. Even as a child, he drew a lot, mostly on wallpaper books from his father, who was a master painter. He also came across the Ottifant early on: "The Ottifant is the result of a failed self-portrait," Otto reported in Dresden. When that didn't work out, he lengthened the nose, drew the eyes more chubby, made the body thicker and added four legs - and the Ottifant was finished. "And it has stayed with me to this day."

Waalkes has also appeared in numerous productions, including the comedy hit "LOL - Last One Laughing" on Amazon Prime Video. He has also appeared on stage with rapper Ski Aggu. Otto is not thinking about quitting: "Why stop? I've only just started."