James Siena

American, born 1957

BiographyJames Siena (b. 1957, Oceanside, California) is a New York based artist whose complex, rule-based linear abstractions have situated him firmly within the trajectory of modern American art. His artwork is driven by self-imposed predetermined sets of rules, or "visual algorithms," which find their end-result in intensely concentrated, vibrantly-colored,
freehand geometric patterns. Siena works across a diverse range of media, including lithography, etching, woodcut, engraving, drawing, and painting. In 1995 he began making prints and to date, has created 114. His work has been included in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the 2004 Whitney Biennial. Represented by Pace Gallery, NY, his work can be found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art, and
Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

Among his numerous awards and honors, Siena's achievements were recognized by Cornell University during his enrollment as a student and again later in his career, with the Cornell Eissner Artist of the Year Award, conferred by the Cornell Council for the Arts (2009). He received his B.F.A. in 1979 from Cornell.

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