ART CITIES:N.York-James Siena

James Siena is a pivotal artist in the New York art scene, particularly known for his creative process based on self-imposed parameters that he terms visual algorithms. By establishing a base unit that he infinitely and obsessively repeats, Siena takes possession of the surface plane in order to focus on complex geometric and abstract forms.

By Efi Michalarou
Photo: Pace Gallery Archive

James Siena’s work explores numerous mediums, including lithography, engraves, drawing, and paintings of enamel on aluminum, a technique that characterizes his work since the 1990s. The motion Siena creates, at once rational and poetic, confront us with an optical riddle that mixes chance and order, where the leitmotiv distinguishes itself in a group that at first glance appeared uniform. The little spaces, similar to fetishes, totems, or icons, concentrate a unique and hypnotic energy that invites the onlooker to choose his own path between the lines and to give himself over to the metaphysical experience. The exhibition “Painting” debuts Siena’s first works using acrylic paint on large format canvases, all created in 2018. Best known for his unique process of creating complexly dense geometric abstractions, Siena’s practice is driven by predetermined, self-imposed sets of rules or “visual algorithms”. Since the 1990s, Siena’s use of enamel sign painting on aluminum supports has fostered a powerful precision and stark vibrancy within his work. The current exhibition reveals the artist breaking beyond those boundaries and exploring a parallel world of possibility, invention and clarity. The scale and medium of the new paintings mark a significant departure from Siena’s more intimate and intricate enamel on aluminum paintings, which the artist has been known for since the 1990s. The use of acrylic paint and stretched canvas as the support have introduced new levels of painterliness, physicality, and immediacy to his practice. Drawing together approximately 10 paintings ranging in size from 90 x 122 to 178 x 229 cm, the new works have evolved away from the object-ness quality of Siena’s earlier work yet maintain a consistency with his long-held focus on personal geometries and rule-based abstraction.

Info: Pace Gallery, 537 West 24th Street, New York, Duration 11/1-9/2/19, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 10:00-18:00, www.pacegallery.com