– Your line was magical and your friendship a gem, says friend and author Jan Verner-Carlsson in front of Pushwagner’s recently unveiled obelisk.
Over two years after one of Norway’s most famous visual artists, Terje «Hariton Pushwagner» Brofos (1940-2018), was assisted in Kunstnernes hus, today the urn was placed in the grave at Vår Frelsers gravlund in Oslo.
See pictures from the urn reduction further down in the article.
The ceremony was led by the well-known humor profile Espen Thoresen. Pushwagner’s daughter, Elizabeth Brofos, thinks it was a worthy last trip.
– This is a special day with both joy and sorrow. I think the grave site has become incredibly beautiful. Finally we have a place to visit. Both to remember him, but also a place to find inspiration, she tells Dagbladet.
Pushwagner’s closest has worked with the ceremony for a long time, Dagbladet is informed 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 and black obelisk has been erected in Our Savior’s graveyard in memory of Pushwagner. Until today, identifying details had been covered in black foil, but on Wednesday a pink signature was unveiled.
– Our goal is to give him a dignified and beautiful legacy and show him respect with this contribution for one of our greatest artists, says Verner-Carlsson to Dagbladet.
– The grave site will be a monument to all those who loved “Push” and his art. There is plenty of space around the obelisk and the place has its own tranquility, Stray adds.
Urne pill
The obelisk is elaborate 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 engraved on the “hat of the obelisk”, and in addition the same pink enamel varnish is applied as on the urn pill, Stray describes.
For the extra observant, Dagbladet can announce that there are two tiny portraits of Pushwagner carved into the stone.
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The actual urn with the ashes after Pushwagner is also very much in the spirit of the visual artist. It is shaped like a pill and placed on an urn shaped like a tablet. The stretcher was carried by four of Puswagner’s closest, including his daughter Elizabeth and Stefan Stray, to the obelisk where the “urn pill” was lowered into the ground.
The ceremony began with a procession from the upper entrance towards Akersveien at 14.30 on Wednesday afternoon. A saxophone quartet, consisting of the renowned jazz musicians Knut Riisnæs, Odd Riisnæs, Vidar Johansen and David Edge, played in honor of Pushwagner.
Family, friends, colleagues, supporters, and other interested people who wanted to honor the artist’s memory followed the urn-bearers.
Art historian Tommy Sørbø and Pushwagner’s old friend, author Jan Verner-Carlsson gave short memorial speeches. The ceremony was filmed and streamed by TV Media Production.
Inspired by «Soft City»
The architects Henning Kaland and Bjarne Ringstad at the agency Code are behind the urn design. They have worked closely with carpenter Henning Nybakken at Brydalen carpentry workshop, who has shaped the urn and urn stretcher in wood and painted it in black and pink.
– We were inspired by motifs from Pushwagner’s art, especially “Soft City”. It is not taken directly from one particular picture, but the pill is one of many elements in this art landscape, where “Push” explores how people all do the same thing every day and take a pill to get some sleep. This is simply in a good “push” spirit, says Henning Kaland to Dagbladet.
– The pill is about artistry. He had substance abuse problems, but he had more sides than “public showman”. For me and others who were under his skin, he was a very sharp and nice guy, and very intelligent, says Kaland.
Code architect’s office worked closely with the artist for many years with the design of a separate Pushwagner museum.
Pushwagner’s funeral took place in a packed Kunstnernes hus in Oslo in May 2018. See photos from and read about the equally original event her.
Internationally known
Brofos was born on Berg in Oslo on May 2, 1940, during a bomb attack. As a four-year-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 went 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 the art biennials in Berlin and Sydney in 2008. Then came the success, and Brofos had a turnover of 8.9 million just three years later.
But before the rise, Brofos was down. Far, far down. After he divorced his second wife in the 90s, he ended up on the streets of Oslo. He was heavily intoxicated and addicted to amphetamines.
“Likkista”
In an interview told Brofos about “Likkista”, a shed in Dronningensgate where he was looked after by prostitutes.
He spent the night with friends, in subway tunnels, on gratings that let out hot air and went to nightclubs to avoid being out on the streets. Sometimes he slept under cars, leaving patches on the windshield.
– I have been run over twice after sleeping under a parked car in a parking facility. The driver did not see the message I had put on the window: “Do not drive, I am 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 would not have been alive today. Without art, that has been my calling, I would have been dead.
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