Hariton Pushwagner
Pushwagner in front of Axel Jensen's ship "S/Y Shanti Devi", 1983
Born
Terje Brofos

(1940-05-02)2 May 1940
Oslo, Norway
Died24 April 2018(2018-04-24) (aged 77)
Oslo, Norway
NationalityNorwegian
Known forPop art
Storage building at Tjuvholmen in Oslo, Norway decorated with some of the later works of Pushwagner. From the left: “Subway Kid”, “The factory” and “Kings Cross”.
Pushwagner at his opening at Bærum Kunstforening on 7 June 2014 in Sandvika, Norway.

Terje Brofos (2 May 1940 – 24 April 2018), better known by stage name Hariton Pushwagner, was a Norwegian Pop artist.

Early life and education

Born as Terje Brofos during a bomb attack in May 1940,[1] he grew in Berg, a neighborhood in the North End[2] of Oslo. In 1944, he was severely injured in a traffic accident. His father Fritjof was an engineer who struggled with alcohol.[3] His mother Elsa worked as a biochemist and would eventually leave her husband.[4]

During his youth, he excelled in both summer and winter sports. He became one of Norway's best tennis players and in 1955 played in a doubles final for the Norwegian championship with Arne Melander, a match which the duo lost.[4]

Pushwagner finished his education at the State's School of Art and Design of Oslo in 1959. He stated that he quit drawing for a period after his studies and that he struggled for several years to find his personal style.[5]

Career

Pushwagner described himself as a spiritual student of Norwegian author Axel Jensen, whom he met at Kunstnernes Hus in 1968.[6] Pushwagner and Jensen lived together for a time, partly in an apartment in Oslo, Norway and partly in Fredrikstad, Norway; Stockholm, Sweden and Menorca, Spain. Pushwagner illustrated Jensen's book Og resten står skrivd i stjernene/And the Rest is Writ(ten) in the Stars (1995). Fascinated by comics since childhood, Pushwagner was inspired to start the series "Soft City" and "Doktor Fantastisk" during this period.[4]

Pushwagner won back the rights to his drawings from Morten Dreyer in 2009.

In July 2012, London-based publisher Art / Books published an extensive monograph on his work[7] to coincide with an exhibition at MK Gallery in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom that subsequently toured to Haugar Vestfold Kunstmuseum in Norway and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in the Netherlands.[8][9][10]

Personal life and death

Pushwagner was twice divorced and had two daughters.

He was diagnosed with lung cancer and died at Diakonhjemmet Hospital on 24 April 2018.[1] He was 77.

He is buried at Our Saviour’s cemetery in Oslo.

Education and further studies

Bibliography

  • Pushwagner, Hariton (2016). Soft City. New York Review of Books. ISBN 978-1681370460.

References

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