Pushwagner

by Lars Bang Larsen

This is the first major monograph on the cult Norwegian artist Hariton Pushwagner (aka Terje Brofos, b. 1940). Provocative, unconventional and wild, Pushwagner is fêted as a celebrity in his home country, renowned for his homelessness and hedonistic lifestyle and compared to a modern day Edvard Munch. Recent international exposure has also seen him enjoy growing recognition and acclaim beyond Norway. Pushwagner's defining creation is the graphic novel Soft City, produced between 1969 and 1976 and set in a dehumanized, dystopian metropolis. Arguably his central work, it was a highlight of the 2008 Berlin Biennial, both timely and prescient with its epic satire on capitalism and modern life. His art also takes the form of intricate and obsessively detailed paintings, presenting a personal mythology of a world under perpetual siege from pollution, totalitarianism and mass destruction. This book, which accompanies the artist's first international touring solo exhibition, includes critical writings on Soft City, the silkscreen series A Day in the Life of Family Man, and the intricate Apocalypse frieze of paintings, the zenith of his technical and imaginative accomplishment. An interview with the artist, in which in typically colourful fashion he discusses these and other key works, and an illustrated biography of his extraordinary life complete this visually striking and compelling volume.

Genres: Biography, Art

307 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012