Dust Lickers 2005

Odd Nerdrum made this painting, "Dust Lickers," and though it’s undated, it feels ancient. The muted, earthy palette is built up with these deliberate, visible brushstrokes. You can tell Nerdrum's really thinking through each mark, letting the process unfold. There’s a gritty texture to the surface, a kind of muddiness that echoes the scene depicted. The paint looks thick in places, almost sculptural, especially around the figures. Look at how the light catches the ridges and valleys of the paint! It's like the painting itself is made of the very earth the figures are crawling through. The tonal variation of the mud builds up to a feeling of being trapped. Nerdrum is often compared to Rembrandt, and you can see the influence in his dramatic use of light and shadow, and his interest in the human figure. But there’s something stranger, more unsettling about Nerdrum’s vision. Like Paula Rego, Nerdrum isn't afraid to embrace ambiguity, letting the narrative remain open to multiple interpretations.