After spending over three years and many thousands of dollars to attend an art college in the United States, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to study with Norwegian master Odd Nerdrum at no financial cost. Nerdrum’s studio was different, because he taught under a completely different standard of aesthetics than what I was used to at the college; a big reason why I went to study with him in the first place. Nerdrum is a Kitsch painter who paints in the classical standard. I was taught by Modernists at the art college who teach and paint in a Modernist standard. The two are completely opposite each other in every way, from their goals to their criteria of quality. It was no surprise to me that I was battling teachers and students alike so often at the college. They were operating under the Modernist standard, and I wasn’t. They all called themselves artists, and I did the same with a bitter taste because I knew I was striving for something completely different than them. Today, there is not one college or university that will teach the classical standard because they are all run by modernists.
The origins of Modernism can be found in Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Judgment and the origins of Classicism can be found in Aristotle’s Poetics. After reading the origins of both ways of thinking, and recognizing the stark contrast of philosophy between the two practices, it made no logical sense to call myself something that I was not.
Imagine a group of men that come to demolish a building. They are called a “Demolition Crew”. Their task is to take apart and destroy the structure. Another group of men come to build a new building in its place. They are called a “Demolition Crew” as well. Well, of course this is wrong. The men who are building are doing the exact opposite task as the men who are destroying. Therefore, we call the builders “Carpenters”.
This logic works the same for Art and Kitsch. Art is modern and an artist is a modernist. My paintings are classical, and Kitsch is classical; therefore, I am a Kitsch painter and not an Artist.
Jesse Nickell
Born in Golden, Colorado, Jesse Nickell was enrolled in a materials chemistry program in New York after high school. After taking a rigorous life drawing class, he realized that his passion belonged to the craft of the classical standard and began his pursuit as a painter. During college he participated in MOA's Design & Build program and held a residency at the New York Academy of Art. Upon graduating, he traveled to Norway to study with the master painter Odd Nerdrum for the summer months. He ascribes to the classical standard of painting, and therefore is not an “artist” (as art and artist are terms for the modern standard) but a kitsch (classical) painter. He has participated in numerous exhibitions, holds awards for his work, and currently paints in his studio in Denver.
