Alexander Reichstein
Alexander Reichstein (born 1957 in Moscow) is a Russian-Finnish artist, illustrator and designer. His work focuses on art for children through interactive exhibition projects, sculptures and book illustrations. Biography and work. Alexander Reichstein was born into a Russian-Jewish family. His father Alexander D. Reichstein was a linguist for the German language and his mother Elena Mikhelevich was a translator and teacher. In 1974 he graduated from Children's Art School No. 2 in Moscow. From 1974 to 1977 Reichstein worked as an artist in a Moscow film studio. Between 1977 and 1981 he drew illustrations for  Moscow publishers. In 1981 he married the linguist Ekaterina Protassova. The couple have two children. From 1976 to 1982 Reichstein studied print media design and illustration at the "Moscow Polygraphic Institute", today's "Moscow State University of Printing". During his studies he specialized in the illustration of children's books. He then worked for various Moscow publishers, where he designed and illustrated books for children and adults. From 1982 he worked for three years as art director at the Russian art publisher "Iskusstvo". In 1990 Reichstein went with his family to Helsinki in Finland. From 1991 to 1993 Reichstein completed  an internship at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Helsinki. There he held two two-year visiting professorships, first in 1992 and again in 2006. Reichstein conducts workshops, happenings, exhibitions and installations and gives art courses in Finland. On behalf of museums, he is responsible for the exhibition design, for example in 2020 for the 75th anniversary of the Moomins figures by the Finnish-Swedish writer Tove Jansson at the National Museum of Finland. He also llustrates children's books for international publishers. Reichstein is also active as a Light artist. In 2016 he created his  work "They were here"(also referred as "Mystical Guests"), which was first shown in Helsinki and then also in other countries such as Germany, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Lithuania and Latvia. In 2019 Reichstein took part in the Berlin Festival of Lights with the light art works "They were here", "Time to Fly" and "Metamorphoses", which were shown in the Erholungspark Marzahn in the Marzahn district. In 2021 he took part in the "FestungsLeuchten" light art festival at Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Koblenz with his light art installation "They were here". Main works. Reichstein had a breakthrough in the public perception of  his art in 2004 with the interactive exhibition "Bestiarium Construendum", which is one of his major works. It was first shown at the Amos Anderson Art Museum in Helsinki. It is a hands-on exhibition made of large building blocks, which are shaped like parts of the human body and animals. These include lions, crocodiles, fish and horses. Because of their color and surface, the parts look antique and appear like relics of bygone cultures. The museum visitors can, by piecing together the building blocks, create sculptures of mythical creatures. Another major work is "Mare Nocturnum", a sculpture installation on  the mysticism of the deep sea. It was first seen on a former water tower in Kotka in 2002, and it was also seen in the caves of the "Retretti Art Center" in 2004. The installation consists of three-dimensional figures made from wire mesh which are sprayed with a color that fluoresces blue in UV light at night. The figures are three-dimensional and include mermaids, merfolk, hippocamps and tritons moving in the underwater world. In 2005 he created "Alma Terra" in the form of a 40 square meter model patchwork landscape made of fabric. Children can play with  and crawl on it. The landscape is reminiscent of that which in Russia is revered as Mother Earth, and which is also known in the mythologies of other countries. Classification. According to Finnish art historian and journalist Marjatta Hietaniemi, Alexander Reichstein helped expand Finnish children's culture over the years. He introduced interactivity and made it an artistic genre. In addition, he brought Eastern European influences into Finnish children's book illustration. She rates Reichstein's style in varying ways. Reichstein reproduced and adapted those styles from history to fit how he needed for a work or an exhibition. This  is the case with the "Bestiarium Construendum" project, for example, using archaic Greek, with the installation "Mare Nocturnum" using the Renaissance, and with the project "Princess for One Day" using Baroque and Rococo styles.