Alexander Tinei

Alexander Tinei (born 1967 in Căușeni, Moldova) is an artist currently living and working in Budapest, Hungary. He studied at the Chisinau Repin State College of Fine Arts in Moldova from 1988 to 1991. Today, many artists consider him to be the father of the Moldavian realist school.

Tinei works across painting, drawing, collage, installation, and repainted photography. Rather than painting from life, he frequently uses found media images from the internet as the foundation for his work. He is particularly fascinated by the modern phenomenon of private moments becoming globally visible online. His striking portraits often depict "cyberspace characters" and youth who seem deeply connected to fictional, online universes.

Tinei's style blends intense colors with precise anatomical details. A signature element of his work is how he paints his subjects' bodies: he often gives them pale, almost ethereal skin marked with vein-like, stained blurs. This technique helps bridge the gap between unsettling realism and the imaginary, giving his subjects a gloomy, dream-like quality.

 Throughout his career, Tinei has exhibited his work extensively around the world. He has held solo exhibitions in major cities including New York, Tokyo, Paris, Vienna, and Budapest. His art has also been featured in major international group shows, including the Prague Biennale (2009 and 2011) and exhibitions at renowned institutions like the Saatchi Gallery in London and the Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague.