Alexander Tinei
Partly Sunny, Mostly Cloudy
The Erika Deák Gallery is delighted to announce the long awaited solo exhibition of Moldovian painter Alexander Tinei. Althought due to the health considerations, we will not have a public opening, everyone interested can be with us in the online space and listen to the opening speech of Zsolt Petrányi art historian, and then view our 3D tour of the exhibition. The exhibition can be visited during opening hours in compliance with all necessary safety regulations.
Alexander Tinei is one of the most recognised artists of his generation creating figurative paintings. His art is filled with the spirit of the age and the constant search for identity. His pale signature figures, usually marked with blue lines, emerge from dinstictive and indefinable spaces, are heralds of deep-seated questions of existence, become the features of his unmistakable style.
In his latest series, Tinei moves away from the psychological depiction of his figures, and focuses more on the creative freedom, on the almost playful use of materials. His unique figures return, but in a much braver, more experimental setting, both in terms of color or in means of painting techniques. This time he found a new inspiration source for his creative method – beside the previously well-acquired collage technique he used for image-building, his attention now is directed to a traditional graphic technique, the linocut. The acquirement of the new technique has not only opened up perspectives for new aesthetic qualities in his art, but has also become new means of creative self-expression.
Despite the fact of reproducibility, no two linocuts are completely alike. This technique enables the makers, via random or directed patterns of manual surface shaping, to create unique pieces, and thus testify the artistic presence that is crucial for Tinei. The typical stylistic features of the technique – the texture of the print, or the grooves cut out by the chisel – also resonate with Tinei’s whitewashed canvases, almost imitating the surface of the origo painting, printed on the paper.
The clear-cut paperworks show peculiar connection with the shattered surfaces of the canvases, both in content and aesthetic means, even that the surfaces of the paintings become more drastically articulated. The rhythm of the white strokes made with masking tape are used not only as compositional elements but to symbolize distraction and damage, while the abstract layers created by them almost engulf Tinei's figures and transforms them into rough forms, urging the viewers to use their imagination to become part of his exceptional creative process.
Alexander Tinei was born in Moldova in 1967. He lives and works in Budapest. He had a solo exhibitions in Prage in 2019, in Paris and Tokyo in 2016, and he also exhibited in the Magdeburg Kunstmuseum. In 2013 he exhibited in Saatchi Gallery, London and Eigen+Art, Berlin/Leipzig. In 2011, he exhibited at the Prague Biennial. His paintings were featured in Vitamin P2 published by Phaidon in 2012, and in Painting now 2015, published by Thames and Hudson. His works can be found in some of the most important international and local collections.
If you have further questions, please contact the gallery via telephone or e-mail.
Virtual opening: December 4, 2020, Friday 4 PM
Opening speech by: Zsolt Petrányi, art historian
On view: December 4, 2020 - February 5, 2021