"Pissing Woman"
Odd Nerdrum
1999 / oil on canvas
[In “Pissing Woman” we see a quadriplegic, nude woman laying in the foreground of a barren, fantasyesque landscape while urinating into a bean or womb- shaped puddle in the earth (which may be a symbol of fertility). Also, the presence of the giant amputee man with an upraised fist accompanied by a dog-like creature in the background is unsettling. The sunset is a motif Nerdrum paints often and is associated with a sense of deep time that is intended to give the viewer a glimpse of eternity and nothingness. One could parallel this image to Mark Quinn’s 2005 public sculpture of the double amputee woman, “Allison Lapper Pregnant” in it’s subject matter and context- both were met with disdain and rejection by the public and art community at large.]
Odd Nerdrum
1999 / oil on canvas
[In “Pissing Woman” we see a quadriplegic, nude woman laying in the foreground of a barren, fantasyesque landscape while urinating into a bean or womb- shaped puddle in the earth (which may be a symbol of fertility). Also, the presence of the giant amputee man with an upraised fist accompanied by a dog-like creature in the background is unsettling. The sunset is a motif Nerdrum paints often and is associated with a sense of deep time that is intended to give the viewer a glimpse of eternity and nothingness. One could parallel this image to Mark Quinn’s 2005 public sculpture of the double amputee woman, “Allison Lapper Pregnant” in it’s subject matter and context- both were met with disdain and rejection by the public and art community at large.]
"White Hermaphrodite"
Odd Nerdrum
1992/ oil on canvas
[Odd Nerdrum’s “White Hermaphrodite” is ripe with visual imagery that not only questions and displays sexual identity but plays on the beginnings of cellular life.
In the painting we see a shapely hermaphrodite emerging from this kind of primordial pool. The surrounding rock and clay structures are embedded with barely distinguishable objects accompanied by the bizarre half-visage of a peeping Tom-like figure observing from the distance. Nerdrum also employs a sftumato technique indicative of Renaissance paintings in his smoky, muted palette. As far as the Venus-esque figure is concerned, he consistently creates scenes and people in them than seem unreal and directly oppose norms in what some might view as shock therapy for an artificial civilization.]
"Twilight" (from the Transformations Series)
Odd Nerdrum
1981, oil on canvas, 102 x 77 inches
[Nerdrum’s “Twilight” is a controversial image that combines the artist’s attitudes about Kitsch and banality with a painting technique that is reminiscent of a mystical scene from Terry Gelliam’s The Brothers Grimm. In this image, the viewer voyeuristically observes the back-side of a woman as she defecates in the midst of a forest. This image most embodies Nerdrum’s philosophy on representing Kitsch and his feelings and criticisms towards the contemporary art world- pervasive with notions of ‘art as idea’ as opposed to ‘art as mastery’ emerging out of the 1970s.]
Odd Nerdrum
1981, oil on canvas, 102 x 77 inches
[Nerdrum’s “Twilight” is a controversial image that combines the artist’s attitudes about Kitsch and banality with a painting technique that is reminiscent of a mystical scene from Terry Gelliam’s The Brothers Grimm. In this image, the viewer voyeuristically observes the back-side of a woman as she defecates in the midst of a forest. This image most embodies Nerdrum’s philosophy on representing Kitsch and his feelings and criticisms towards the contemporary art world- pervasive with notions of ‘art as idea’ as opposed to ‘art as mastery’ emerging out of the 1970s.]