Up-and-coming talent Franz Braun

Text by Rudolf Schramm

Painter, musician, mini-publisher. The versatile young man we are talking about here is called Franz Braun. From 2010 to 2014 he studied painting with Johanna Kandl and Gerhard Müller at the Universität für angewandte Kunst in Vienna. The results of these studies include, among other things, captivatingly lively, realistically painted depictions of people. He lives out his second great passion, music, as the drummer of a 3-person band, which, by the way – take note!! – is always looking for opportunities and venues to perform. Here and today, however, we are concerned with his third way of expressing himself creatively: Pirol. Behind this graceful title (which could also serve for a whistleblowing platform) lies a folded leaflet whose potential is still waiting to unfold.

Pirol is the product of a group of young people who put their inclination towards and their enthusiasm for culture into each of the 7 issues published so far: around Franz Braun, changing friends and artists from his circle design this gazette by painting, writing poetry and writing. Always on board: his wife Jasmin Rehrmbacher, who creates a comic series and contributes illustrations to Pirol. Others write art criticism, poems, short stories or present their latest artistic works. The costs of printing and additional expenses are shared jointly by those involved in each case. Everyone contributes the same sum to the end product. The common aim of all is to bring into the world a permanent forum for discourse on contemporary art and for the presentation of young artists.

The biggest problem of this Pirol, made with relatively little money and a great deal of love, is still distribution. Although some bookshops, such as the “Salon für Kunstbuch” – and also the municipal Wiener Hauptbibliothek – already stock the publication, these outlets are still far too few for the makers' ambitions. But improvement is in sight. For the original edition of 500 copies already sold out regularly last year, and increased interest in the new, enlarged edition is already being registered from many quarters.

If you now feel such interest too: you can secure a copy at redaktion.pirol@gmail.com.