b. 1967, Munster, DE
Lives and works in Allerup, DK
German artist Bendix Harms approaches each painting without an underlying system or preparatory drawing. To the artist, painting is ultimately a process of trial and error. Harms culls from autobiographical references and deeply personal experiences, which he believes creates that untenable bond between artist and subject; artist and materials; artist and art-itself. Thus, drawn to his immediate surroundings, which is currently a farm in a remote part of northern Denmark, motifs of birds, trees and most importantly, the black cat named Rufus, who roamed the farm until his death at 18 years of age, abound.
Rendered in exuberant gestures and applied using mostly a palette knife rather than a brush in his most recent work, Harms’ paintings are immediate, tactile and sometimes grotesque. However, each of Harms’ subjects requires a different painterly treatment: to drip, to spackle, or to gesso. “I try to receive orders from my subjects,” Harms remarks. Embracing fear and taking delight in unexpected coincidences, Harms immerses his work in an often-humorous narrative language that is ultimately compelling in its apparent disregard for precedence.
Bendix Harms (b. 1967, Munster, DE; lives and works in Allerup, DK) received his MFA from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg, Germany. He has been included in numerous exhibitions at important institutions such as the Hall Art Foundation, Redding; Hudson Valley Center of Contemporary Art, Peekskill; Nationalmuseum, Berlin and the National Academy Museum & School, New York. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.