The Black Cloud 

Editor: This is "The Black Cloud", an oil painting by Odd Nerdrum. The stark landscape and figures swathed in cloth create a really unsettling, almost post-apocalyptic feeling. What jumps out at you when you look at it? Curator: Well, it’s difficult to divorce Nerdrum's work from its reception and the critical discourse that surrounds him. He self-identifies as a "kitsch" painter, rejecting modernism, and embracing narrative, skill, and emotion in ways deemed unfashionable by many art institutions. So the painting becomes, in part, a political statement about what is valued in the art world, wouldn't you say? Editor: I see what you mean. It's like he's deliberately going against the grain. But how does that affect the way we understand the imagery itself, the black cloud and figures in the desolate landscape? Curator: Considering that history, we have to look at this with his stated intent in mind: rejecting abstraction, rejecting cynicism. What function could figures from the past in an invented landscape serve in communicating the angst of modern societies? Consider the symbolism. What stories, historical or mythical, might Nerdrum be drawing on here? And for what purpose? Editor: So you're saying it's not just about the surface aesthetic, but also a commentary on the role of art and the artist in society? A bit like Romanticism revived in the late 20th Century? Curator: Precisely. This work, like much of Nerdrum's oeuvre, is about challenging the status quo of the art world and broader social values. It reminds us to consider the values different aesthetics reinforce, as well as how individual choice can affect one's contribution. Editor: That's fascinating. I'd never really thought about his work that way. It makes you think about the politics of the art world in a new way. Curator: Absolutely, it allows for further contemplation and, dare I say, challenges pre-conceived notions regarding taste.