Bendix Harms: SANKT RUFUS
In 2016, German painter Bendix Harms moved from Hamburg to 脴sterf忙lden, 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鈥檚 own words:
Rufus鈥攖he black cat of 脴sterf忙lden, the Owner of 脴sterf忙lden, the Leader and the Defender of this farm in the northern part of Denmark where he died on the 6th November 2017鈥攑hysically. The heartbeat of the whole farm stopped too.
Rufus鈥� relationship to this farm was and is enormous: he lived there for 18 years鈥攈uman years鈥�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: 鈥淒amned 鈥� where were you???!鈥� In the end, we bought this farm because of the cat: Rufus the decision-maker. 鈥淏eziehung haben鈥� - 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.
This black dot in the green fields was so magnetic that he must appear on the canvases as a black dot too. Huge, small, scratched or thick spackled with an ultra-thin and round palette-knife鈥擱ufus is a storytelling prototype鈥攈e determines the big WHAT (to paint) and the big HOW (to paint). His orders get even more precise and my right arm becomes a machine鈥︹��.spackle, spackle, spackle, spackle鈥︹��.and suddenly 鈥� almost automatically鈥攖he KING OF CONCRETE appears onto the canvas: SANKT RUFUS!
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In 2016, German painter Bendix Harms moved from Hamburg to 脴sterf忙lden, 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鈥檚 own words:
Rufus鈥攖he black cat of 脴sterf忙lden, the Owner of 脴sterf忙lden, the Leader and the Defender of this farm in the northern part of Denmark where he died on the 6th November 2017鈥攑hysically. The heartbeat of the whole farm stopped too.
Rufus鈥� relationship to this farm was and is enormous: he lived there for 18 years鈥攈uman years鈥�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: 鈥淒amned 鈥� where were you???!鈥� In the end, we bought this farm because of the cat: Rufus the decision-maker. 鈥淏eziehung haben鈥� - 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.
This black dot in the green fields was so magnetic that he must appear on the canvases as a black dot too. Huge, small, scratched or thick spackled with an ultra-thin and round palette-knife鈥擱ufus is a storytelling prototype鈥攈e determines the big WHAT (to paint) and the big HOW (to paint). His orders get even more precise and my right arm becomes a machine鈥︹��.spackle, spackle, spackle, spackle鈥︹��.and suddenly 鈥� almost automatically鈥攖he KING OF CONCRETE appears onto the canvas: SANKT RUFUS!
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