Air&Fire

Alexander Radtke, Russia

Alexander Radtke is one of the young contemporary artists, but with the main distinctive feature- he provides an unconventional approach to analyzing and interpreting art movements and directions. Starting with the series «Stillness Speaks» in 2016, his story of the spiritual in painting begins. Radtke was born in Shadrinsk in 1989, graduated fr om Shadrinsky University, where he studied information technology. In 2011, after completing his studies, he moves to Yekaterinburg, where he works by profession, however, after a while he decides to give up his career in this field and devote himself entirely to painting. In 2014, Radtke receives a proposal for a festival in Germany. Immediately agreeing, he moves to Berlin. There he gets acquainted with a completely different level of painting, visits exhibitions of a huge number of artists (Picasso, Bacon, Van Gogh, Turner, etc.), he also faces enormous friendly competition and joins the community of the European Gallery group. After festivals and exhibitions he gets acquainted with Abstractionism. Beginning of 2015 marks the transition to the Abstract. Inspired by abstract art — Kandinsky, Rothko, Pollack, Richter, etc., – Radtke returns to Russia, and begins to study formlessness and color. In Yekaterinburg, Radtke is trying to find the starting point for creating an atmosphere of innovation and synthesis of art with the concept of formlessness. (The main goal was the creation of paintings that would be able to evoke not thoughts but emotions). The result of searches, observations and frantic experiences, gradually accumulating over several years, was a concept based on a book named «The Power of the Now» by the German philosopher, writer, and spiritual speaker Eckhart Tolle. To fully consolidate this idea, the artist goes on a journey, and in 2016 participates in the Art-Residence «Bereg», wh ere he thoroughly studies Buddhist practice and Dao philosophy. Having created several works on the theme «Body and corporeality», Radtke fully completes the formation of the concept of formlessness. The paintings unite in a series called «Stillness Speaks», which becomes that symbiosis, the key between painting and spirituality. All of 2017 went to the creation of paintings on this subject, after which an exhibition in Moscow was organized – which in turn led to invitations from various galleries of the world. 2018 was marked with access to the international arena, joining the community of US artists and featuring at exhibitions in New York. Also, cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation in the presentation of Russian contemporary art at various venues of the world began.