In 2016, German
painter Bendix Harms moved from Hamburg to Østerfælden, a farm in the North of
Denmark. This was the territory of Rufus, a cat who had been ruling over the
property for the last 16 years, and with whom Harms formed an instantaneous and
strong bond. For his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery, SANKT RUFUS, Harms
has created a series of paintings as a monument to the late cat Rufus. In the
artist’s own words:
Rufus—the black cat
of Østerfælden, the Owner of Østerfælden, the Leader and the Defender of this
farm in the northern part of Denmark where he died on the 6th November
2017—physically. The heartbeat of the whole farm stopped too.
Rufus’ relationship
to this farm was and is enormous: he lived there for 18 years—human years—85
cat-years. He knew each culm of each field, each brick of each building, the
creek and the edge of the forest and each hole of each mouse. The relationship
to Rufus was and is atomic...he guided us. He lived on the farm a whole winter
alone, sovereign and happy, only fed by a neighbor and himself. Each salutation
with us into the sunny courtyard was a big fest: “Damned – where were you???!”
In the end, we bought this farm because of the cat: Rufus the decision-maker.
“Beziehung haben“ - having a Krupp-Steel-Relationship to someone or something.
To me this is the main aspect necessary for creating art, especially when you
are a German Contentist.
Info
Until Saturday June
30 2018
Venue name: Anton
Kern Gallery
Address: 16 E 55th St
New York 10022
Cross street: between
Fifth and Madison Aves
Opening hours:
Tue–Sat 10am–6pmTransport: Subway: E, M to Fifth Avenue–53rd St
Event website:
http://www.antonkerngallery.com
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