Alvar Reisner. From People to Houses

Alvar Reisner himself has said that he keeps a so-called painting journal, where each submission (painting) reflects a moment, area and design of a city space. Though we can find parallels from the history of painting, Reisner thinks that historically speaking, the artists mostly took inspiration from romantic landscapes, lakes and forests. And so, following the same concept, the he looks at the city space and at flâneurs, observers, who play a key role in understanding and portraying the city. In these moments, the artist is both the observer and the one being observed.

Reisner’s paintings are not a report on reality, but rather leave an impression of a shifted reality. Aesthetic poems that were experienced on the run. He often paints on found or reused canvases, which then continue their journey in the city space and carry their history on as foundations for the paintings. A peculiar sense of humour lies at the backdrop of his paintings, as titles or scenes, that gives his paintings a cheeky sense of recognition.

These transient scenes of dynamic movements, that are characteristic to city spaces, display the artist’s own interpretation of the fleeting synergy that lies between people and houses.

Alvar Reisner has graduated from painting at the Estonian Academy of Arts and has worked as a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts. Alvar has received the Harald Raudsepp’s scholarship and was the first to be awarded with the Eduard Wiiralt scholarship. Since 2013, he is a freelance artist and gallerist.