Claessen’s paintings and drawings explore contemporary figurative realism and abstract art. His images speak of his love for vintage interior design and accessories, art history and a glorified revival of the early and mid-20th Century. 

Alexander Claessen (*1991) is a Dutch-Italian contemporary artist and product designer based in Amsterdam.
Claessen’s paintings and drawings explore contemporary figurative realism and abstract art.

Claessen boldly borrows from e.g. empire, renaissance, art deco and art nouveau styles, while inserting modern art classics in the background (e.g. E. Hopper, P. Mondriaan).
Though his motifs are seemingly from another era, most of his figurative realist works are based on recent digital photographs, from Instagram influencers, Netflix shows, and his personal life: Creating a surprising time warp effect that comments on online culture and nostalgia.

In his abstract paintings he reintroduces the ‘De Stijl’ movement to cater to our reoccurred need for order and stability in times of crisis.
Reflecting on the value of art, home-decor and intimate comfort (of private and public space) within what he coins the ‘current luxury war’, he uses 24k gold foil to make his pictures. He also crafts the image beyond its canvas by adding and restoring vintage frames.

Some of the key questions that drive his practice are, ‘Where do we draw the line between fine art and interior design?’ and ‘How does the past reiterate the now, if time is more than continuous flow?’. Just watch the prevalence of wristwatches throughout his work!

Alexander Claessen was born 1991 in Beek (NL) to a Dutch father and Italian mother. He holds a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts from Maastricht Academy of Fine Arts & Design and a master’s degree with a focus on Product Design from Domus Academy in Milan, Italy. He worked in fashion design as well as for Marcel Wanders Studio for Interior Design. He then specialised in branding for light innovation technologies at Lightwell (Dutch Design & Smart Lighting Systems), after which he started his own business as an independent product designer of sustainable lamps from birchwood. He continuously followed his passion for drawing and painting, and shifted his focus on his fine arts career inspired by the first COVID lockdown in 2020.

In 2021 he was nominated as one of the final 15 contestants for the second season of the Fine Arts TV- Production Project Rembrandt by Dutch public TV-channel ntr, which aired in January 2022.