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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