Artwork Description
Pop Sub Final #1 Limited Edition 4-Color Hand-Pulled Silkscreen Print on Fine Art Paper by Florian Bertmer, Graffiti Street Artist, Modern Pop Art.
2014 Numbered Limited Edition of 100 Artwork Size 12x12
Pop Sub Final #1 Silkscreen Print by Florian Bertmer: Macabre Iconography in Modern Pop Form
Pop Sub Final #1 by Florian Bertmer is a bold and visually aggressive piece that crystallizes the intensity and subversive themes of Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork. Released in 2014 as a numbered limited edition of 100, this 12x12 inch four-color hand-pulled silkscreen print embodies the tension between chaos and control through its fusion of skull iconography, punk motifs, and meticulous detail. The artwork presents a highly stylized skull adorned with a military-style cap, gritting a cigarette between jagged teeth, and crossed bones forming a menacing understructure. The bandana-style border, filled with symbols and intricate textures, adds to the tension and balance within the visual composition.
Underground Influence and Symbolic Precision
Florian Bertmer is a German-born artist whose work is deeply rooted in underground music, hardcore punk, and countercultural aesthetics. His command of line, symmetry, and iconography in Pop Sub Final #1 reflects his deep history in album cover design and screen printing culture. The crisp four-color palette, dominated by muted golds, reds, and navy tones, evokes a sense of timelessness and menace. The precision of the silkscreen process amplifies the tension in every detail—from the skull’s expression to the layered background that reads like a cryptographic tapestry. The military cap, rendered in dark maroon with pin-sharp hatching, implies authority, but the skull's manic grin and defiant cigarette shift the tone toward irreverence. This contrast is central to Bertmer’s visual language, which questions power, mortality, and self-determination in the modern age.
Aesthetic of Rebellion in Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork
Pop Sub Final #1 communicates its defiant tone without the need for slogans or text. The skull’s gaze, slightly off-kilter, and the tension in its expression speak directly to the viewer. The crossed bones, while referencing classic skull-and-crossbones symbology, are given new energy through Bertmer’s stylized rendering and surreal detail. Graffiti and pop art often rely on immediacy and semiotic familiarity, and this piece plays with those concepts by embedding iconographic layers into a deceptively simple format. The background acts like a visual echo chamber, with skull motifs, geometric shapes, and occult-like patterns swirling around the central subject. The effect draws the viewer inward, revealing more with each inspection.
Collectibility and Cultural Weight
This 2014 edition represents a moment in Street Pop Art & Graffiti Artwork when handmade processes like silkscreen printing reclaimed prominence against digital overload. The fact that Pop Sub Final #1 is hand-pulled and limited to only 100 copies elevates its importance as both a collectible and cultural artifact. Each piece is numbered, and many include subtle variations in ink application, further rooting the work in the ethos of punk DIY ethics and authenticity. Bertmer’s print captures the raw intersection of dark fantasy, social commentary, and graphic mastery, continuing to resonate with audiences seeking artwork that is both confrontational and obsessively crafted. Through Pop Sub Final #1, Florian Bertmer contributes a signature vision that pushes street and pop aesthetics into deeply personal and evocative territory.
