On Kitsch [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Jan-Erik Ebbestad Hansen (Author), Sindre Mekjan (Author), Dag Solhjell (Author), Odd Nerdrum (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2001

Kitsch has long been viewed as fine art's poor relation, aping its form while failing utterly to achieve its depth of meaning. In On Kitsch Odd Nerdrum and others discuss the meaning and value of kitsch in today's world, and its relationship to art. For the first time in this volume, English-speaking fans have the chance to read the writings of Odd Nerdrum, Norway's most famous contemporary artist, or kitch painter, as he would refer to himself. This printing of a variety of writings by Nerdrum and others includes speeches, essays, and humorous pieces such as "The Kitch Questionnaire," and "Kitch Aphorisms." This book is an opportunity to discover the thought process of one of the world's most unique and compelling artists.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Odd Nerdrum was born in Norway in 1944, where he still lives and works. Among the U.S. institutions that have held solo exhibitions of his work are the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego; the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art; the New Orleans Museum of Art; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and many others. His work is in major public collections worldwide, and he shows at the Forum Gallery, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 104 pages
• Publisher: Kagge; illustrated edition edition (August 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8248901238
• ISBN-13: 978-8248901235
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,528,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Odd Nerdrum's Kitsch: The Brilliant Lie., October 3, 2001

By 

Matthew Ballou - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: On Kitsch (Paperback)

"On Kitsch" functions as a manifesto for Nerdrum's peculiar philosophical and aesthetic beliefs about painting. It is a grand statement, albeit often a contradictory one. Many questions are raised: how can he on one page declare that kitsch is not about morality or great ideas, and then on another page state firmly that kitsch "serves life" is "something extraordinary that demands a great deal", and is concerned with "eternity"?

It seems to me that Nerdrum is trying too hard to convince us of things that we could accept with less aggrandizement. That is, he wants us to enter into the sensuality of material, to love craftsmanship and technical proficiency, to break with over-intellectualization and to allow eternity to be seen in the temporal. I agree with much Nerdrum has to say about modern art and art education. I believe he is a master painter and I believe he has a valid point of view that needs to be read by art students the world over (if only to counteract some of the bunk that we are taught). I don't, however, agree with him entirely. Many of his notions involve lacking logical bases and copious semantic juggling. I don't believe (as he vehemently states) his work is agnostic or amoral; quite the contrary. I think it begs the question of causal-morality and God-consciousness.

But you can mull these things over in your own mind after reading this book. It's great, and a God-send to those of us who know and love Nerdrum's work and want to delve deeper. "On Kitsch" provides the ideological background for everything the man has done, and gives keen insights that are certainly not accepted on art school campi around the world.

Read it, then look at Nerdrum's paintings again.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Odd Nerdrum is a man., February 27, 2002

By 

Neal Ward Troiano (Concord, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Kitsch (Paperback)

"On Kitsch", is a seashell when held to the ear revels romantic insights of this twentieth century painter, Odd Nerdrum. The Norwegian painter's masterful and detailed view of the modern art world is only surpassed by the crafstmanship he performs with his eyes and hands. Through interviews, speeches, critiques, drama and humor he explains why he is NOT an artist and insists that the avant garde was right in casting him out of the modernist's scene. Odd Nerdrum's battle for sensuality and longing for eternity pitted him against the Goliath that we knew as modernism; Odd Nerdrum is still alive, modernism is dead. Long live, "On Kitsch"!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a review by a fellow painter, February 25, 2007

By 

content4more (NJ. USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Kitsch (Paperback)

This collection is brilliant...
It will be invaluable to anyone sincerely interested in intellectually challenging the current post-modernist status quo when it comes to the "state of the Arts" today. The essays revolve around the controversial persona of the Norwegian painter Odd Nerdrum and for the bigger portion are written by the artist himself as a kind of treatise or "theoretical manifesto"(...he would laugh at the pomposity of this term) where the meaning of "kitch" (from German - "bad taste") finds a surprisingly sympathetic alternate evaluation and an interesting point for discourse emerges.
Who is the judge and what has been judged in Modern Art? According to whose criteria? What happens when "the Modernes" become the decisive majority and dominance of "acceptable modern taste" is established? Is Art for Art's sake or is it Art for Art theory's sake?
... Some similar questions to ponder here..

Besides, for anyone who is new to or has not had the opportunity to witness Nerdrum's art, this book might be a valuable insight into the spirit that's behind this modern master's paint brush.

O.K... I admit, I am biased.