Alexander Tinei

I read the Bible for an hour, then I pray. When I have done that, I feel I can start the day, I have His (God’s) support to enjoy my life and to know Him more. Breakfast, emails, some preparations follow.

I like acoustic music, the music of the ‘60s. I love Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell, Nick Drake, David Gray, Nick Cave, Joan Baez. And I recently bought “Love Is a Four Letter Word” by Jason Mraz. I like music. I’ve got this heavy stuff in my paintings and I need some positive things.

The Bible. It is strong and deep. I can read, re-read and re-read it, again and again.

Italy and New York.

Now it is half and half. I live alone. And if someone cooks for me, it is good, because I do not need to think about what to eat.

I did not do that in the past. My father used to read the news all the time. I tried to keep a distance. But now I feel I need to do it, too.

I don’t read them. I just check the pictures.

It is different all the time. I lived in a monastery for more than a year in Moscow. I’m so sensitive to beauty, I like to surround myself with beautiful things. When I lived there, they gave me strange clothes (boots and other pieces). I remember that I lost my identity then, I forgot who I was. The reason why we like clothes is that they give us an identity, the identity of the culture we would like to belong to. Sometimes it is very useful to lose this identity, because it is not the clothes that give us what we are worth, it is good to remember that.

Women’s clothes.

It happened several times. I wanted to be an artist from the beginning, when I was a child. I graduated from an art college. After you finish this school, you are an artist, but I got lost. I did not know what to do. After school I worked as a teacher in a school, and I had my first solo exhibition in Siberia, in that school. Then I realized I would like to spend more time with a paintbrush. I understood that all I wanted to do is to draw and paint. The other thing happened here in Hungary. I had a difficult time at the beginning. I had to make a decision that I do not care about the circumstances, that all I want is to do is paint. That was also the time when I realized I need to be re-trained, because I did not have much information about contemporary art. It took time to get used to the culture. I broke myself, I had to forget everything that I had in a past. I understood that I wanted to become a contemporary artist, and that the art I would create had to reflect my life.

I do. I need it.

“Blue nose” was really successful.

Yes, there are some people who I would like to talk to. John Paul Jackson, he is very free, he is Christian, he is prophet. The way he sees God, the way he reads Bible, the way he explains things. He understands how to love God, he understands the strength of God. I would like to have a coffee with Peter Doig.

My parents and my pastors.

I used to believe I did not have a chance to have a career. I was too late. I was 37 when I came to Hungary. I did not speak languages, and I was not part of the art circles. It took 4 years to get into Erika’s Gallery (Erika Deák). He (God) says that we have hope in our hearts, He shows you the road, and He can put you on the road. He wanted me to be an artist, even before my mother or my father was born. I would like to advise the young generation to find God, He will give them the road, He will give them protection. The artist has a duty to the society. Our duty is to be ourselves. And God wants to help us understand it.