Sunday, March 11, 2007

A bit Odd.

A few years ago, while indifferently leafing through an art critique magazine at a local coffee shop, I stumbled on an article about a new, burgeoning form of painting that seemed "to be gaining equal amounts of praise and scrutiny." This new movement, dubbed Kitsch painting, is based on the premise of immitation, or rather emulation, of baroque and other classical styles of painting.

The term Kitsch originates from the german word kitschen, which means to scrape up mud. It originally held negative conotation (and still does, depending on who you ask), however in the past 50 years or so, a group of painters have taken the term and made it their own. The story in the magazine focused primarily on one man: a norwegian painter named Odd Nerdrum. Nerdrum is one of few painters who are clinging to the Kitsch title with steadfast pride, maintaining that there is a clear distinction between Kitsch and art.

The first thing that struck me about Nerdrum's paintings was the insane attention paid to detail, likened to early Baroque predecessors. His depictions of the human body are incredible, as he focuses only on what is real; nothing is exaggerated, and everything is observed.

Almost two years had passed since I first read the Kitsch article. I had tried in the past to remember Odd' name, to find out some more information about him, but to no avail. Recently I was, again, looking through a magazine when I saw his name in an advertisment, and immediately it jogged my memory. I found his website, and here are a few of my favorites of his:


Black Self-Portraite


Self-Portrait as the prophet of painting


Man Bitten by Snake


Dentures


He paints a lot of humorous self-portraits, and sometimes they seem to be a bit self-praising (see: Self Portrait as the prophet of painting), but they're all amazing. I really enjoy finding modern painters who can emulate old masters as well as Nerdrum. Another great Kitsch painter is Jan Ove-Tuv, also a norwegian, who studied under Nerdrum for years.

Sorry for the boring post. I get giddy when I remember certain things.

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