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– Your line was magical and your friendship a jewel, says friend and author Jan Verner-Carlsson in front of the obelisk recently presented by Pushwagner.
More than two years after one of Norway’s most famous visual artists, Terje “Hariton Pushwagner” Brofos (1940-2018), was buried in Kunstnernes hus, the urn was today placed at the grave of Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo.
See the pictures of the urns reduction further down in the article.
The ceremony was in charge of the well-known humorous profile Espen Thoresen. Pushwagner’s daughter Elizabeth Brofos believes it was a worthy last trip.
– This is a special day with joy and sadness. I think the tomb has become incredibly beautiful. We finally have a place to visit. Both to remember, but also a place to find inspiration, he tells Dagbladet.
The closest Pushwagner has worked with the ceremony for a long time, Dagbladet is briefed by the artist’s close friend and collaborator, Stefan Stray, and friend and author Jan Verner-Carlsson.
– The place has its own tranquility
A large black obelisk has been erected in the Our Savior Cemetery in memory of Pushwagner. Until today, the identifying details had been covered with black foil, but a pink signature was revealed on Wednesday.
– Our goal is to give a worthy and beautiful legacy and show respect with this contribution to one of our greatest artists, says Verner-Carlsson to Dagbladet.
– The tomb will be a monument to all who loved “Push” and his art. There is plenty of space around the obelisk and the place has its own tranquility, adds Stray.
Pill urne
The obelisk is crafted with details from Pushwagner’s artwork.
– The stone is carved, sandblasted and carved with one of Pushwagner’s epic works of art, taken from his painting frieze “Apocalypse”. Pushwagner’s signature is etched on the “obelisk hat,” and the same pink enamel varnish is applied as on the urn pill, Stray describes.
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The royal urn with the ashes after Pushwagner is also very much in the spirit of the visual artist. It is shaped like a pill and is placed in a pill-shaped urn. The stretcher will be carried by four of the closest Puswagners to the obelisk where the “pill from the urn” is lowered to the ground.
The ceremony begins with a procession from the upper entrance to Akersveien at 2.30 pm on Wednesday afternoon. A saxophone quartet, consisting of renowned jazz musicians Knut Riisnæs, Odd Riisnæs, Vidar Johansen and David Edge, plays in honor of Pushwagner, reports Stray.
– First they play as part of the procession itself, which is led by the master of ceremonies Espen Thoresen, later during the reduction of the urn. In the procession, the urn bearers follow the musicians with the stretcher and urn, Stray says.
Family, friends, colleagues, supporters and other stakeholders who want to honor the artist’s memory follow the ballot-bearers, Dagbladet reports.
Before and after the shrinking of the urn, art historian Tommy Sørbø and Pushwagner’s old friend, author Jan Verner-Carlsson, will give short commemorative speeches. The ceremony will be filmed and broadcast by TV Media Production, which has its own production bus in the cemetery.
Inspired by «Soft City»
Architects Henning Kaland and Bjarne Ringstad from Code agency are behind the design of the urn. They have worked closely with carpenter Henning Nybakken at Brydalen Woodworking Shop, who has shaped the urn and urn table out of wood and painted it black and pink.
– We were inspired by motifs from Pushwagner’s art, especially “Soft City”. It’s not taken directly from a particular image, but the pill is one of many elements in this art scene, where “Push” explores how people do the same thing every day and take a sleeping pill. This is just in a good “push” spirit, Henning Kaland tells Dagbladet.
– The pill has to do with art. He had substance abuse problems, but he had more sides than “public showman.” To me and others under his skin, he was a very sharp and nice guy, and very smart, says Kaland.
The code architect’s office worked closely with the artist for many years on the design of a separate Pushwagner museum.
Pushwagner’s funeral took place at a Kunstnernes hus in Oslo in May 2018. See photos and read about the equally original event here.
Internationally known
Brofos was born in Berg in Oslo on May 2, 1940 during a bomb attack. When he was four years old, he was hit by a bus and spent two years at home. That must have been when he learned to draw.
Since then, the trip was to the Norwegian School of Arts and Crafts and the Norwegian Academy of Fine Arts in the period 1958-1966, to London and two marriages and two divorces.
The international breakthrough came when he was 68 years old and was allowed to exhibit at art biennials in Berlin and Sydney in 2008. Then came success, and Brofos had a turnover of 8.9 million just three years later.
But before the rally, Brofos was down. Very, very low. After divorcing his second wife in the 1990s, he ended up on the streets of Oslo. He was very intoxicated and addicted to amphetamines.
“Likkista”
In an interview, Brofos spoke of “Likkista”, a shed on Dronningensgate where he was cared for by prostitutes.
He spent the night with friends, in subway tunnels, on vents that let the hot air out, and went to discos so as not to be on the street. Sometimes he slept under cars, leaving patches on the windshield.
– I have been run over twice after sleeping under a car parked in a parking lot. The driver did not see the message he had posted on the window: “Don’t drive, I’m under the car,” Brofos told Dagbladet in 2015.
It was Stefan Stray, agent and partner, who saved him, he said in several interviews. Brofos has previously stated the following about the friend:
– Without Stefan I wouldn’t have been alive today. Without art, that has been my vocation, I would be dead.
