by Ruxanda Renita
”Everything is possible for him who believes.”(Marc 9:23)
Those of you, who are interested in contemporary art, might be familiar with Alexander Tinei from Deak Erika Gallery’s exhibitions, Art Market Budapest 2012 or Nightfall exhibition curated by Jane Neal in Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art in Debrecen, not to mention the international exhibitions. How could a Moldovan artist break the national stereotypes and become one of the leading artists within the Hungarian and International art market?
I remember the first time I met Alexander, preparing myself for an arrogant and egocentric artist as most of the artists when reaching the fame and respect of the art critics and International art market. Instead I met a very friendly and modest person interested in offering his help if I needed it. It might have been the first time in my life when I felt totally lost as I was prepared to meet the scepticism of the artist or at least to be assaulted by some ironical replies. Immediately after this meeting, the contemporary man’s typical questions appeared in my head: “How could such a person find his way in the extremely competitive art market without being pushy or arrogant?”, “How could you keep your integrity while tasting from the fruit of celebrity?”…
One year has passed since then. In an attempt of breaking the geographical bounders, the Moldavian artist Alexander Tinei arrived in Budapest 12 years ago. He wanted to bring a new revolution in art through the force of spirit, idea which sounded naïve to the artists of his generation. Alike Kandinsky who left Russia and gave a spiritual meaning to the German art movement -German Expressionism; Tinei left Moldova and gave an Eastern touch to the Hungarian contemporary art scene. For Tinei, the man must have strong spiritual roots; otherwise it loses its identity. Even this is the central focus of his paintings: the struggle/torture of the man who lost its spirit, identity; it is a Universal pain that can be understood by any viewer irrespectively of its nationality or ethnicity.
The concept and the technique of its paintings attracted the appreciation of many art critics and publications, including the most famous catalog of contemporary art ‘Vitamin P2’ in 2002. Represented by the Hungarian gallery ‘Deak Erika’, his art is also collected by/ exhibited in Saatchi Gallery and Calvert 22 in London, Ana- Cristea Gallery in New York, and now in Eiken+ Gallery, Leipzig.
Another surprising moment is Tinei’s attitude towards artistic fame and glory, sharing the Andy Warhol’s idea: “In the future everybody will be world famous for 15 minutes.” Therefore, his mission is serving God on Earth.
