Control Burn

The Control Burn mural was created as a site specific work for the Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin.  

Susanne Prinz writes: The work of the Austrian-American artist Florian Raditsch uniquely combines folk art and non-European traditions with the modernism of the early 20th century. Using a variety of techniques and media, he fuses his sources into a new contemporary cosmos that is permeated by a sensitive awareness of nature. Raditsch grew up in the Sierra Nevada and in the Californian foothills among ranchers and eccentrics of all orientations. There are numerous thematic overlaps between this influence and the ideas of the early avant-gardes. Expressive dance, spiritualism, the IT of the beatniks and indigenous rituals play just as much a role in it as real fires, whose explosive energy and allegorical presence are given an additional interpretation in their new context in the centre of Berlin. The city and its surroundings were once a hotspot of reformatory ideas in all areas of life, from art and nutrition to education. Today, not a summer goes by without forest fires and the lakes are disappearing before our eyes.

Installation view of the Control Burn mural at the Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin Photo: Ludger Paffrath

Installation view of the Control Burn mural at the Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin Photo: Ludger Paffrath

Detail of the Control Burn mural at the Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin Photo: Ludger Paffrath

Red Hand, 2023, Oil on canvas 50,4 x 40,2 cm Photo: Rudolf Strobl