The Schaezlerpalais Augsburg is showing an exhibition about the unusual artist friendship between Anja Gütloff and a chimpanzee named Coco. A visit to the painter who has created a bizarre world in her studio and sees herself as a “storyteller”.
Bowls of soup are crowded under the sofa. Boxes covered with shells are stacked on a shelf, next to them lie thistle leaves that have rotated on their own axis while drying. Butterfly wings, wizened fruit clusters, stuffed birds, sailing ships, a horned hare, plus drawings, paintings, collages on the walls. Strange water features, piled one on top of the other, dripping away. It takes a while to find your way around Anja Güthoff’s Chamber of Wonders world and go on a journey of discovery.