About

Alexander Aizenshtat (born 1951) is a Russian artist currently based in Moscow and Jerusalem. He is known for his paintings, which are often characterized by stable and rigid compositions of figurative or abstract kind. Philosophical questions and ideas about the human condition play a central role in his work. Through monumental pieces, Aizenshtat gives material form and presence to his philosophical reflections. While some paintings are of small dimensions, others reach a much larger scale.

In his work, Aizenshtat extensively explores the effect of color and to this end he uses a limited range of colors in each painting in order to obtain an increased expression of color. And it often creates a sharp contrast of color that sometimes even causes the objects in the painting to have a shifting effect. In certain works, Aizenshtat bases the painting on several shades of a single color, thus creating a subtle contrast but with a deep and strong texture.

Aizenshtat’s art also includes ink drawings on paper. Aizenshtat’s drawing work is not a preparation or “appendix” to his paintings, but a work that stands in its own right. The drawings carry a delicate and sometimes fragile line, which stands in stark contrast to his flat paintings.

Aizenshtat seeks to reveal in his work his worldview, his philosophical ideas and his sharp impression of human stories and atmospheric scenes. Using the allegories, poignant parables and literature Aizenshtat poses in front of the viewer an existential question about who the man is and what the world is.

His work has been the subject of numerous solo exhibitions including Museum of the other arts, Russian State University for the Humanities, Russia (2006); Moscow Museum of Modern Art, Russia (2010); Triumph Gallery, Russia (2013); The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Russia (2016); The State Tretyakov Gallery, Russia (2016); Christie’s, Russia (2017); Jewish Museum of Eisenstadt, Austria (2018); University of Haifa, Israel (2019); Schloss Esterhazy, Austria (2021).