»Der leere Fang – single-parent-heroes IV«
| Edition | Original Art |
|---|---|
| Sujet | Other |
| Technique | Painting |
| Height | 97 cm |
| Width | 122 cm |
| Length/Depth | 4.9 cm |
"The Empty Catch – single-parent-heroes IV”
Media/Technique: Acrylic, oil, oil pastels on canvas, stretched onto a wooden frame in a custom-designed and built profile frame tailored to the artwork.
Year created: 2025
–One-off–
‘The Empty Catch – single-parent-heroes IV’: A familiar father figure sits alone in a quiet, almost otherworldly landscape. Fishing is portrayed not as an adventure, but as a symbol of everyday care, waiting and carrying on. Straddling humour and melancholy, ‘The Empty Catch’ tells of a fatherhood whose achievements often remain unseen. Strength is shown here not through heroic gestures, but through perseverance, devotion and a reliable presence.
The work is part of the four-part painting series ‘single-parent-heroes’ and takes single fathers from pop culture as its starting point. Familiar childhood heroes clash with traditional notions of masculinity: the role of provider, authority, strength, emotional reserve and the ever-raised index finger.
Drawing on my own experience as a single father, I explore how these role models continue to influence us – and what values might take their place. Expressive colour, shifted contours and gestural overlays cause these familiar figures to waver between nostalgia, feeling overwhelmed and self-doubt. The bespoke gold frames pay tribute to an often-overlooked form of responsibility.
‘Single-parent-heroes’ does not propose a new ideal of heroism. The series regards care, emotional openness and self-reflection as contemporary forms of strength.
In my works, I use exclusively highly pigmented artists’ paints, which possess high luminosity and lightfastness. For each work, I design and build an artist’s frame myself, aiming to create an overall effect through a combination of craftsmanship and conceptual care.
Shipping :
The work is shipped stretched onto a stretcher frame and an artist’s frame that I have designed, conceived and crafted myself – including a certificate of authenticity, the corresponding catalogue number and a signature on the front.
Alexej Eisner
In his work, nostalgic, (post-)Soviet narratives are embedded within biographical elements of everyday life. In doing so, personal and collective memories of the traumas of Russian-German history are interwoven. Eisner presents figurative elements which, through expressive gestures, scraped surfaces and vivid colour schemes within a single composition, create alternating moments of clarity and decay, conveying a sense of authenticity and raw emotion.
Exhibitions (selection)
2025 – ‘What do we pass on and what do we keep to ourselves?’, Hase29 Gallery of Contemporary Art, Osnabrück.
2025 – ‘FATA MORGANA’, vanished Pop-Up Gallery, Osnabrück.
2025 – ‘skool session no. 17’, Alte Schule, Münster.
2025 – ‘good neighbours’, GALERIE ET, Versmold.
2025 – ‘PASSEN’, Contemporary Institute for Art and Thought, Berlin.
2025 – Annual Exhibition of Nominees, University of Osnabrück.
2024 – ‘My Horse Dog Doesn’t Want to Die – vanished’, Hase29 Gallery of Contemporary Art, Osnabrück.
2024 – ‘Beschreibendes’, Galerie Bel Étage, Gütersloh.
2024 – ‘Orte des Friedens #3’, Kulturbüro, Osnabrück.
2023 – ‘Working on the Future’, skulptur-galerie, Osnabrück.
2023 – ‘CAMPUS’, skulptur-galerie, Osnabrück.
2022 – ‘INDEX’, skulptur-galerie, Osnabrück.
2022 – ‘Artist’s Residence’, Atelierhaus Hasemauer, Osnabrück.
2021 – ‘3D’21’, skulptur-galerie, Osnabrück.
2021 – “European Media Art Festival”, Osnabrück.
2020 – “Grafikbörse”, Borken.
Awards/Scholarships
10.2025 – Germany Scholarship for outstanding achievement in the field of art at the University of Osnabrück
02.2025 – Nomination for the Ingeborg Siebert Art Prize in painting and printmaking
, October 2024 – Germany Scholarship for outstanding achievements in the field of art at the University of Osnabrück
, June 2024–May 2025 – Studio grant from the DaunTown art collective, Borgholzhausen.
2022–2024 – Studio grant, ‘Atelierhaus Hasemauer’, from the Felicitas and Werner Egerland Foundation, Osnabrück.
Other artworks by the artist
