Odd Nerdrum
Map Man 2012 Oil on Canvas 79 × 100 × 2 in
Though Odd Nerdrum studied under Joseph Beuys, he later turned to the Old Masters, including Rembrandt and Caravaggio, to help him explore subjects based on allegory, morality, and psychology. His painting is a rejection of modern art, with bizarre narratives and apocalyptic visions—likened to the work of his Norwegian forbear Edvard Munch—capturing the horrors of the 20th century in a highly figurative manner. “By choosing those qualities that were so alien to my own time,” Nerdrum has said of his subject matter, “I had to give up…the art of our time…I had to paint in defiance of my own era.” Nerdrum has argued that his work is kitsch rather than art; his manifesto On Kitsch helped solidify the agenda of a group of artists associated with him, who rejected concept and embraced narrative, emotion, and romanticism.
Swedish, b. 1944, Helsingborg, Sweden courtesy of artsy.net