Blalla W. Hallmann (1941 - 1997)

Blalla W. Hallmann

Blalla Wolfgang / Wolfgang Ewald Hallmann was a German painter and graphic artist. He deals with fundamental existential questions (religion, sexuality, ...) in a drastic, both blasphemous and obscene manner. Formally, it moves between surrealism, outsider art (Art Brut), folk art and numerous references to art history. In the 1980s, the cycle of "horror pictures" was created. In addition to other techniques, the reverse glass painting known from folk art is characteristic of him. In 1995/1996 Hallmann produced a series of 149 sheets of woodcuts in which he recapitulated his own career under the title “The Way, the Truth and Life”. He was a member of the artist trio around Herbert Haberl and Bernd Wangerin. In 1965 he was a founding member of a traveling theater that later became “Hoffmanns Comic Teater”. Members of this group later formed the rock band Ton Steine Scherben.