AN APPROACH TO ODD NERDRUM’S WORK by Andres Orlowski
! INTRODUCTION
! Self-professed prophet of painting, rebel in opposition of modern art (sometimes all things modern), creator of a different spin on the term ‘Kitsch’, inspiration to many contemporary figurative painters, ‘the best figurative painter alive’ as Andrew Wyeth once referred to him;
Man Bitten by Snake- Odd Nerdrum
controversial in methods of extraordinary paintings that melted, indicted for tax evasion in his homeland Norway and question mark to many traditional painters that revel with admiration at his powers and Rembrandt-like canvases while at the same time cringing at his subject matter which sometimes is criticized as ‘shock-tactics’ and provocations.
! All of these things have and could be said of Norwegian Artist Odd Nerdrum. Although all of them and more could be applicable to his work or his personality, Nerdrum’s art can be often be misinterpreted or narrowly interpreted depending on what philosophical bias the viewer falls in line with. I would propose there are elements in his aesthetic that straddle conceptual dissent and traits that many critics and artists either disregard or refuse to reconcile.
! In approaching his work, I propose a two-fold perspective which may reflect some of his ties to the history of art and its concerns. It may also dispel some limited biases in regards to many opinionated ways of seeing art. These perspectives may both differ and run in line with what this prolific painter and writer
may have stated regarding his work. I will also delay at first on focusing on the term of ‘Kitsch’ as Nerdrum and some of his pupils have used it.
! The first perspective, which I believe is in line with the intent that can be gleaned from his paintings and the elements consistently present in them, is one of ‘seeing human experience as a physical phenomena or represented in physical terms.’ What follows is a brief revision of some conceptions on what we sometimes erroneously label modern, post-modern and traditional. Lastly, and perhaps the more ambiguous aspect, is an open ended question in regards to legacy.
! I Shit Rock by Odd Nerdrum / The Rape of Ganymede by Rembrandt
! In attempt to begin by addressing some of the more disturbing elements, I will address something that would in some cases naturally jar some sensitivities timid in their admiration of figurative work, the body and its representation in art. It is the occasional ( not as common in Nerdrum’s art as sometimes proposed) but certainly memorable presence of scat references. The most glaring example of this is of course, the painting above. Three women squat and defecate and counting their reflections , the painting has six examples of the act. Certainly it is no the first time vowel movements or urination have been rep-
resented in art (seldom so well). Perhaps, at best, not represented in Western art traditionally with as much thematic prominence in a single painting.
! As a biological fact, scat is of course a unifying organic element. More than one ancient society has regarded it as sacred and worthy of cultural significance. Feces, an eloquent communicator of territory, habits, health and more in animals has been given mythological importance and relevance by many cultures. Take for example, the Aztec pre-columbian goddess ‘Filth Eater’ often represented with a black mouth. This ‘goddess’ among other things, was a confessor of people late in life, literary eating the filth people shared with her, pouring their lives’ impurities on her. Through this digestion of their life’s pain and guilt, she set them free to be free from the weight of their errors. As with many of these ancient myths, the psychological aspect has its organic component- the fertilizing of the earth through feces, decay, death and waste making new life, new sustenance. Certainly, there are references to the use of such corporeal acts in Western Art and it is far from being only a solitary shock technique and property of an outgrowth of post-modern imaginations. To sample some instance of this, we can look at san artist dear to Nerdrum and as imbedded in traditional and humanistic art as an artist can be- Rembrandt. (Prodigal Son, Woman Squatting and Man Making Water)
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These three etchings possess different themes. None of them I would propose would be seen as shocking. The first is a Biblical scene. A dog squats on the right corner. As Rembrandt can be said to be a deeply religious artist, it would be difficult to imagine this display as being derisive. In the etching of a strangely modern and recognizable homeless man (as we all know vagrancy is timeless ), the man aims and urinates on the ground. In the third etching a country woman squats and releases herself next to a tree. There is no parody against an upper class. The actors are common place and hence easily acceptable in their raw fullness much in the same way Bruegel’s peasants can represent more freely the foils and earthiness of human actions in a class less concerned with decorum. In Rembrandt, these actors are given a deeper humanity Andrea del Sarto
and sense of indviduation. Intent and representation of these actions vary according to the artists and times. A world apart and in a plush, sensuous scene, Andrea del Sarto’s Virtues of Marriage
at the Met, a Cupid urinates through a crown of leaves as an idealized nude woman lays happily looking at the viewer. Besides the self-aggrandizing male-gaze purpose that this commission may have served, laden with symbolism relating to marriage, the more acceptable device of having children or cupids urinating in Renaissance paintings is noticeable as it occurs in Titian, Rubens as well as countless fountains.
Above Right from top to bottom: Titian, Rubens. Bottom image- Greek Vase.
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Gerard Dou, Jordanes
In these two last paintings, the corporeal reference on the one hand is given importance through scientific inquiry and in the other a boy is being wiped clean by his mother during the bucolic party.
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II
An important allegorical work in which the act of making water is present is Rembrandt’s re-interpretation of the myth of The Rape of Ganymede. The usual adolescent boy in the throws of homosexual love (as
in the painting of Rubens) is replaced by a crying little boy that frightened by the predatory abduction of the eagle has the most natural of reactions to extreme stress. He cries and urinates. Rembrandt is noted as having used the etching of a mother carrying her garrulous boy by the arms as the latter screamed, cried and tried to slip away as a study . Basically, an angry toddler throwing a fit. Whether Rembrandt’s literary intention was to bring this myth ‘down to earth’ or if the child represents the human reluctance to rise beyond itself or a political statement as has been proposed at times, it is of
‘Pissing Woman’ by Odd Nerdrum/ Venus of Willendorf
interest beyond the scope of this paper. Within the similarities of the act, there are of course notable differences in how artists approach the aforementioned actions. In Nerdrum’s paintings, the narrative is less direct and more elusive when these kinds of undertakings are represented as in his ‘Pissing Woman’ , the urinating armless woman appears very similar to the Venus figurine from Willendorf . She appears as a strange and perhaps deranged fertility goddess as she urinates into a puddle while a limp, insane, gaunt man in the distance walks a vast and
solitary landscape. Instead of being lifted as in painting of The myth of Ganymede, we are strangely connected with the basic ground of earth and primal urge. The myth of Ganymede has often been used not only as a poetic rite of passage for homosexual love between an older man and his young protégée. It is also often interpreted as the rise of a being into a higher realm of spiritual perfection. At times it carries in an art work both meanings simultaneously as it tends to occur with artists who have the affinity of linking spiritual, organic and aesthetic ecstasies into one language. The differences in interpretation culturally of this myth both in art and literature brings us to another aspect that is sometimes and unexplainably looked over by some art lovers. Art, humanity has dealt with aspects of the body for a very long time before the rediscovery of the apple by our contemporary pioneers. In this regard it may also be of interest to study this interpretation of the theme by Rubens. In this painting the phallic association is clearly displayed with quiver holding the arrows at the height of the buttocks. A similar sentiment to the Greek myth may be present in one of Odd’s early paintings during his period of social realistic character. In his ‘Spring’ a man is putting his clothes back on as his younger counterpart, still sitting naked on the blood stained sheets, looks surprised and bewildered while the morning light enters the apartment. The youth’s face covered by a mix of revelation and simple astonishment. ‘The Rape of Ganymede’ by Rubens
!‘Spring’
by Odd Nerdrum
! A sexual ambiguity in many of Nerdrum’s paintings brings us back to his use of a traditionally Greek metaphor- hermaphrodites. Hermaphrodites have a long, cultural history beyond being a fact of human biology. The term alludes, of course, to the union of Hermes and Aphrodite. Hermes, the messenger of the Gods, and Aphrodite, Goddess of Eros, the union of the male and female and directly linked to Ovid’s account of the bathing of ‘whoever would dip into those waters would be similarly transformed ( )’
The history of hermaphrodites in art and the sacred conception of hermaphrodites may be traced further back and to different cultures. It has some manifestations in the East as well as certain links to the cult of Dionysus (God of Ecstasy) in the union of Dionysus and Prapus. In Tibetan lore there are three sexes described- man, woman and a middle sex. Most importantly in the East the Ardhanarishvara is a synthesis of Shiva and Parvati, the union of the female and male energies in the
universe of ancient Vedic literature. Beyond the reference to the Hermaphrodite Cult, Nerdrum’s ‘White Hermaphrodite’ has deep links with two of Rembrandt’s works- ‘Susana and the Elders’ and ‘Woman Bathing in a Stream’ In Odd Nerdrum’s painting instead of the old intruders who invade the young woman’s intimate ritual with their lecherous intent, a young man looks on from behind a rock. The hermaphrodite, having already experienced the change through being immersed in the water, stands in a soliloquy of affirmation. Water is often uses as a sexual metaphor in art, as well as for the unconscious. In
‘White Hermaphrodite’ by Odd Nerdrum/ ‘Susana and the Elders’ by Rembrandt
both of the Rembrandt paintings this use is apparent. Both women are descending into the water and be-
‘Woman Bathing by a Stream’ by Rembrandt/ ‘The Sleeping Prophet’ by Nerdrum
coming vulnerable, but in Odd Nerdrum, the object of human beauty is simply entranced with the change undergone and strides forward meek and triumphant. This transformation in Odd’s painting is represented in very physical terms. While The meaning of union and transformation is of intrinsic importance to understanding the imagery, Nerdrum paints it in lovingly physical terms and perhaps this sensuous aspect of the imagery is part of the inevitable emotional response the work evokes, as it does in other paintings he represents this bridging of the sexes.
! III - Violence
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‘Man with the Head of a Woman’, ‘The Murder of Andreas Baader’ and ‘Amputation’ by Odd Nerdrum Beyond the sex and the corporeal manifestations, an attribute in Nerdrum’s work sometimes criticized as a shock value tactic is Odd’s graphic use of violence. Finding graphic violence in traditional art is an easy task. It is imbedded in religious art and myth throughout the world as well as in Christian imagery in which pain is often depicted as a redemptive element. The epitome of this use would reside in the passion of martyrs, the crucifixion (that lovely Roman pastime) and in particular the crucifixion of the Christian God , symbol of the meeting between the world represented by the horizontal beam of the cross and the vertical representing transcendence.
As individual paintings these three art works of Nerdrum are very different from each other. The first deals with obsession- holding on to the physical remains of some-
‘The Martyrdom of St. Phillip’ By Ribera
one. This morbid extreme of possession is doomed as the viewer inevitably realizes, but we are caught in this short-sighted man’s basic drive to possess. The second is an action scene fit for a film noir, although it also has its correlation to Rembrandt’s ‘Blinding of Samson’ and Caravaggio’s ‘Judith Beheading Holofernes’
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! ! The third is physical death exposed. The intestines are hauled out. It is death at its most physical. Apparently Nerdrum reminds us and himself that these experiences cannot exist without the body, without living in and through the body- from the three women squatting, to the hermaphrodite bathing, to this depiction that severs the body from itself and organized life.
‘Woman Kills Injured Man’ by Odd Nerdrum
Some may question the reasons for these explorations. Why is it necessary to depict the act of defecation, violence and allude so directly to sexuality? Are these valid concerns of art? Isn’t it supposed to elevate? I would propose that if art sheds light on those aspects of human nature that are hidden and is or can be a way to self-knowledge, then one must certainly begin with those characteristics that express our animal self. It appears that a lot of social decorum and habitual blue prints of society are intent on hiding or sheltering four basic elements of what makes us animals: sex, food, violence and death… or at least present them in an adjusted, exaggerated and deformed way of a more acceptable veneer. Sex shortchanged into sentimentalism, pornography or degradation. Eating is detached from the death of another animal or organic form and the waste that feeds back into the cycle of nature. Violence is limited to a compromise of neurosis, depression and euphemisms. Death is relegated to a hidden, hardly talked about
looming reality sometime in the future softened by the solace of religion. Its counterpart, age, hidden in elderly homes and decay avoided through the sterile language of scientific terms. Somewhere Nerdrum writes about the beauty he finds in the ‘gleaming golden’ appearance of feces itself. This golden element in painting which Nerdrum often alludes to is consistent with Rembrandt’s golden, earthy, mystical light. Somehow, the warmest most empathetic and heartfelt gleam shares a stage with the most prosaic and primal. In his work “Kitsch’ Nerdrum is quoted as saying that ‘deep down we are simple’. After being rid of the repression of the animal nature- odor, sex, violence, nourishment and death, we are left with these basic elements that inform the life of human beings.
‘Three Men at Dawn’ by Odd Nerdrum
Morbidity in Nerdrum sometimes repels some contemporary representational painters. What is sometimes not highlighted is that this experience is never sneered at by Nerdrum. As much as he depicts deranged subjects, aging and in unexpected and unflattering situations there is never any mocking of their character. Impotence and ignorance are never sneered at. There isn’t a trace of cynicism or tongue and cheek deference in his work but a respectful, sensuous and dynamic gravitas. Nothing that takes place is trivial. The vision is too in-
‘Cannibals’ by Nerdrum/ ‘Bacchanalle’ by Corinth
tense and necessary to be viewed with deference. It may be of interest to compare his work in this respect with another artist who was interested in the flesh- Lovis Corinth. The tone and point of view in Lovis’ art work deviates from satirical, cynical, humorous to irreverent. It is in part due to a single shift in perception. Lovis focuses on lust and its transience. Nerdrum focuses on mortality. Besides the chauvinistic attitude in Lovis which is outside our present considerations, there is no redemptive quality in the senses in his work. It is interesting, nevertheless, how brash and daring his work and perspective is compared to the Neo-victorian sensitivity displayed by many artists today interested in reviving the masters into the contemporary consciousness of art. In Rembrandt, ‘The Flayed Ox’ is a symbol of the suffering of the flesh. In Lovis’ ‘Butcher Shop’ there is a content, blood-lust and craving
for meat, for the physical. Lovis rejects the solemn and replaces it with the unadorned, the raw, the bacchanal and humorous. In this sense, Odd’s sensitivity gravitates toward Rembrandt. He is drawn to the deep reflection of existential inquiry. There is nothing trivial about being alive and being in the body. The experience can be mad, sexual and bizarre bot not trivial. Sex is tempered by the presence of the maternal, protective part of life and its offspring- the child, the hope, deeply embedded in the protective fold of sex. In this sense, Odd owes as much to Rembrandt as he does to the Renaissance and its Madonnas. ‘The Infant’ and ‘Stranded’ by Odd Nerdrum
‘The Night Jumper’ by Nerdrum
Rodin in the 19th century created some waves by embodying the deepest questions of humanity on a man who could hardly think, whose hands and feet weighed down his structure and intellectual capacity. Nerdrum’s visionaries on the other hand are often broken, flawed, insane or limp. They tend to inhabit a world that breathes and echoes their callous condition. It is also a world that forces itself upon them. These visionaries are exposed and represented in the language of shape-shifting ecstasy rapture and even rupture. Their eyes are often closed, mouths open, faces turned upward, leaping, dressed in attire that reveals their sex, the nourishing breast or the wound.
‘Dawn’ by Odd Nerdrum
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IV The Cycle
‘Five Women Singing’ by Nerdrum It is strange to consider how often artists have painted horizons as straight lines on the picture plane, unbending, not showing the curvature of the earth. They are depictions that do not suggest descent and the organic quality of something more akin to a sphere. It is even more insightful to admire how this element
‘Golden Cape’ by Nerdrum
informs Nerdrum’s compositions- the bending horizon, the oval spring, the round, reflecting puddle, the hairless slope of the cranium and the breast. Nerdrum returns to these conventions tirelessly and repre-
sents the idea, among other things, of cycles. His figures often reflect a life experienced between all encompassing cycles. In his ‘Women Singing’ these women of different ages and the nude boy lay breathing or singing, exhaling or calling out on a womb or breast-like earth to which they cling to like musical notes because the perspective is bent and round. The curvature suggests movement and their placement the tension between resting, falling and turning. Each figure expresses something particular to themselves while complementing the other describing the experience of cycles joined by the inverted symmetries of the arms and robes. In ‘Golden Cape’ the cycle is depicted again. It is stressed by the presence of the blood-red pond. Even with the uneasy attempt to escape, the aging man pulls the younger with his broad, firm strides. In the composition the small, circular pond, the cape that binds the two men all suggest the cycle of age as a revolving phenomena. Interestingly enough, in a latter version of this by Nerdrum using his Apellean* palette the pond has been partially washed away and it lingers muddy as it loses integrity. The earth in these paintings is not something static in which human drama takes place. It is expressive and has the force to mold the compositions suggesting their inevitable outcome. The confusion of the madness of isolation and the intricacies of human personality are contrasted against a larger than human questioning that also includes the inquiries into our own nature. Nerdrum does explore the traditional dualistic expression of humanity as it violently tears against the elements in which it exists. This violence severs in the case of ‘Man with a Horse’s Head’ not only the horse’s head from its body but the curvature of the hill in the composition is sliced by the appearance of both the aggressor and his tool of aggression
‘Man with a Horse’s Head’ by Odd Nerdrum
(the instrument of human pride- the simplest form of technology- a knife). The gaze of the horse (in itself a fragment painted with great beauty) has its gaze turned back to the viewer while the wild-eyed man watches the horse in amazement as if witnessing something greater than himself. The man’s gaze in the composition is in perfect alignment with the eye of the horse evoking a deeper bond in the act of seeing. Nerdrum’s sense of repetition and symmetry, deeply entrenched in Greek aesthetics, is also part of a variety of branches of study of the world, in nature itself and the organic blueprints of our corporeal manifestations. It is also a basis for his aesthetic poesis of the individual as artist. Any study of this Nerdrum’s extensive work would be incomplete without the paintings that appear to depict the dark, universal womb, which also marks his return to many of the ideas of his youth through the crystal of years of experience as a man and artist which stand in contrast to the summer-lit, wistful solar paintings.
‘Summer Day’ / ‘
‘ Odd Nerdrum
In the first, the epic becomes weightless, humans float like medusas in a state of potential life and elemental force. The artist, divorced from the earthy browns allows the purplish tails of their movement over immensely silent spaces of dark matter suggesting a new and boundless spirit for the imagination. The artist in this new space is once again reacquainted with the ancient and often terrible longing- the universal. (35) In this manifestation we are presented with the sensibility that is present throughout Nerdrum’s work-
a constant reinvention of the sublime like a transparent mask that encompasses his endeavors as an artist. This is a feeling of terror and awe that cannot be contained in a contemporary anecdotal sensitivity. It could be argued that in part it is this clarity of sensation that both appeals and repels viewers of his work. It is not the path for every artist, but it is a significant path.
The reverie paintings drenched in the glow of midday are sometimes a lighter inward key in the repertoire of the artist (36) although by the same token they allude to the pathos that can be present in broad light, the simple sensuous enjoyment of bathing in light. Nerdrum in many ways is a painter of effects as Rem-
brandt was, but he is not always limited to a chiaroscuro convention. Centuries of artistic expression and study divide the two and the understanding of elements of impressionistic and outdoor painting filter into Nerdrum’s narrative as they would to any contemporary traditional painter. These paintings suffused with light throughout as if bathing in the apex of a summer day still eventually bend toward the mystery of twilight (37), still carry the elements of simmetria, of bursts of insanity, deep reflection and even myth (38) as can be seen in (37) and (38). In (37), a figure reminiscent of his own (39)
sits elated under the golden glow of sunset, the row balancing itself on his lap and his reflection darkened and unrecognizable floats mysteriously next to him. In the distance, the volcano that shoots out its fiery plume, reminds us of the deep and restless underground forces that can be manifested at any moment and as an allusion to the artist’s darker, brown work.
! Kitsch
! Much has been said about the term ‘Kitsch’ both by the artist and his most faithful pupils. The term itself has been given mileage by differ-
ent groups with a variety of purposes. Perhaps originating from the German ‘kitschen’ (to collect rubbish) the term in different cultures evoked a sense of worthless pretension or the Russian ‘keetcheetsya’- to be haughty and puffed up. It eventually evolved into a sarcastic derision for saccharine and cliché productions, particularly made in the 19th century. This, of course, being ironic for its use in the 19th century was very different. This term in the twentieth century was then attached to a number of prominent Academic artists such as Bouguereaux and his exquisite canvases and Geróme broadly portrayed as the head of an elitist establishment that was out of touch with the inner core of the purpose of art and that had turned into an artificial recreation of reality or myth with stiff and unbending parameters that did not speak to a changing world or deeper aspects of experience. Perhaps an uneven reading of Kantian discourse on aesthetics also was added, resulting in a war that took place between what is allegedly pure art and art that ‘merely represents’- making art a term that for some has become so irrelevant that it was better to dispose of it altogether. It has perhaps eventually has given way to the importance of theory over application. Nerdrum’s use of ‘Kitsch’ could be argued would include most work done by serious artists throughout history, and due to the cultural structure of modern and post-modern, these could fall into a kitsch perspective as well. From aspects as the ‘disinterest beauty’ or beauty as something detached from pleasure as some argue Kant proposes, Nerdrum spins Kitsch as embodying desire. Interestingly enough, Nerdrum’s proposal through paintings (and in writing) apparently includes a vast and intentional interest in the undesirable, the intertextual and the rare that excludes his work from a facile appreciation. Would this alone, hold one’s interest? At the same time, his work historically consistent with the German and Russian Schools of painting of the past and shares an affinity for the raw and earthy representation of the human which differs from the refined exquisite aspects of the French school or the solid and serene harmonies of many Italian painters of the Renaissance. Despite this, again and again, pleasure and contemplation are joined in his canvases. The weightlessness of bathing or floating on water, the gleam and articulation of flesh and muscle, the softness of the flesh or the power of a strained face during a scream, the traveling light of sundown, the confused and almost un-
romantic embrace and kiss, the interjection of his own countenance, figure and even erect penis in paintings casting himself as a hero or outcast are both laden with physical and emotional pleasure… all of this certainly is an appeal both to others and for the creator of the work. The argument would follow to say that the Modern school that Nerdrum rebelled against (and perhaps still does) this desire, attempted to break down the medium creating a language that could convey and be pure in its formal concerns. A quick glance at these concerns and it is apparent that many or most of the concerns are similar and that, even though in a highly uneven manner, the means still attempt to convey some pleasure- physical, contextual or conceptual. Furthermore, often these ‘liberations’ from the past are burdened by complicated explanations that suggest their empirical value and their metaphysical stature in a similar way it once argued that representational work (particularly naturalistic work) had ultimately failed to stand on its own without all the aesthetic and cultural dialogue and associations surrounding it. In attempts to dismiss certain work as ‘Kitsch’ Rosenberg proposes that ‘Its antagonist is not an idea but reality’ In other words, the representational is ‘a forgery of the real’ or ‘a real forgery’ A lot of these conceptions are tinted with the religious and moral fervor a lot of Modernist thought that originally sought to capture for itself the full attention of the art world in a rather Romantic and Fascist manner (the slave becomes the captor). Greenberg stated “a pre-condition for kitsch, a condition without which kitsch would be impossible, is the availability close at hand of a fully formed cultural tradition, whose discoveries, acquisitions and perfected self-consciousness kitsch can take advantage of for its own ends.’ In other words, Kitsch does not analyze culture but repackages and stylizes it. Unfortunately, this phenomena is not one necessarily intrinsic to a manner or form, but to human cultural digestion and exposure- a trait to which more contemporary and modernist perspectives became the successors of their own brand of intellectualized ‘Kitsch’ sometimes divorced from what was perceived as craft altogether. It pretended, as most social reforms (often sincerely), to divorce itself from the socio-economic culture that renders value to work- a structure that has proven more iron-willed than expected. That kind of theory detached from its practical and economic reality became a discourse that could only be debunked by more theory. Hence, cultural speak could only be transmitted according to a new world order of aesthetics and
a great majority of quality work that did not follow such limited guidelines (branded as purely liberating) became for a long time secondary. Of course, even in the history books and museums, such guidelines were always at best imperfect… perhaps not as imperfect as some of the naive and reactionary so-called arguments proposed against them, even by talented representational artists today, whose conceptual vision is historically muddled in relation to their ability to paint or defining the context in which they practice their particular aesthetic. Post-modern thought, hailed as the end of modernism, fractures into a stream of various theoretical, critical and multi-disciplinary interests which have its seeds on the modern art establishment and economic/ cultural environment it is born into. In some of its more popular renditions, it plays with the wheel without attempting to overturn it. A good example of this is Koons and his Blake-like, pop-fantasy-porno, freedom from guilt jubilee- for which he posed and directed -and hired others to execute- while retaining all the credit. In ’Made in Heaven’ in which it is not the work itself, but how it relates to its social context in which the artistry becomes a performance or a deliberate con- a self-congratulatory machine that exploits and celebrates (and criticizes) its power to make use of the already established dominance of propaganda and banality while, in the case of Koons, in its achievement pays his workers (skilled art students) menial wages to express an inter-textual self-liberation of lust that catapulted him into notoriety. Nerdrum’s art and arguments on Kitsch are not in the same hemisphere and neither is his appeal. His arguments on Kitsch have a different layered conception of the artist as thinker, skilled manipulator of a medium and poetic executor. Nerdrum’s ‘Kitsch-war’ is with the Romantic Modernists and the branch of contemporary exclusionists that alienate the power of ancient work to be expressed through a tradition of painting because of a limited view of mimesis. His work and interest in the corporeal nevertheless shares
roots in contemporary sensitivities and anxieties. It proposes a variety of existential perspectives to the
visual possibilities of painting, art and its metaphors.
! Legacy
Connor Walton/ ‘Self-portrait with Snake’ and ‘Three Name Givers’ by Odd Nerdrum
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The impact and influence of Nedrum on the generations that immediately follow is noticeable, not only in those that have directly studied with him but many who have been seduced by his art, whether for its mastery, its imagery or its daring spirit and rebelliousness. There are many others that would like to see in him, and his verbal attacks on contemporary art and modernism, a sword against the art of modernity and a return tow work that informs more noble conceptions of humanity while paradoxically among those that criticize him, they see in his work a humanity filled with Stone Age brutes whose thinking potential is achieved under extremely physical efforts, a pathetic song full of shock tactics and provocations. For the purists a return to an already discredited or explored manner of expression may fall into an idea of ‘preciousness’ and alleged lack of originality. Among those that studied with him, it is a generally consistent description that Nerdrum hasn't practiced a system of technical development as is practiced in ateliers for his students. His tutelage is one of immersion in the artist’s world, of conversations regarding art and of seeing him work. Students help with the work by performing a variety of tasks from stretching canvases, grinding pigments and other more demanding tasks according to the skill of the student. He does not charge for the experience and the students have ample time to develop their own work. Among the painters that have studied with him as far as sophistication of aesthetic tools, they appear to have achieved by first studying in ateliers and schools such as NYAA, The Florence Academy of Art, The John Angel Academy among others. Many with less training have grabbed on to elements of Nerdrum’s work without his mastery of the means and personal mastery of the figure or a world, inspired in many ways by the Icelandic landscape that has become a Nerdruain language- in other words- his achievements in personal disegno, in creating a world that is intimately linked to his own feeling toward creativity and cosmogony. It is of interest to point out that some representational painters, such as Desiderio, have criticized the atelier system for its lack of experimentation and self-conscious understanding of the formal elements of painting. Among those that have studied with him and have developed or are developing many individuated aspects to their work it may be important to highlight some of the work of Teresa Oaxaca whose array of masks, dolls and chaotic Baroque characters often undermine in their excess darker sides to our contemporary persona. Osiris Rain’s portrait of his father An Unbearable Darkness which is now part of the permanent
collection at the museum of Barcelona displays a different approach to clarity and chiaroscuro with a subtle pathos. Charles Weed, not a student of Nerdrum, but also deeply interested in the Baroque, has a unique, intimate and poetic voice among realists today. Other examples of work done by some salient painters that studied with Nerdrum include Luke Hilllestad, Andrea J. Smith, Richard Thomas Scott
among others.
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