Olivier O. Olivier, The Departure of the Prodigal Elephant, 1998

Olivier O. Olivier created this long series of elephant metamorphoses, comprising some fifteen paintings. The paintings, the first in 1971 and the last in 2004, tell an episodic story around the same theme:

“Over the course of the canvases, a whole elephant emerges, then an elephant carrying another elephant, before being carried by several veiled figures who gradually take the place of its heavy legs. Next, the pachyderm is placed on the ground, buried in a large hole, examined at the bottom of the hole and finally exhumed.” Olivier O. Olivier, Paintings