James Siena is a contemporary abstract artist based in New York whose work encompasses precise renderings of shape and form. The bold colours and repetitive patterns that run throughout his work connect with post-industrial abstractions. His 3D sculptures are mathematical compositions; his bronze-work reflects endless tube formation, and his linear works such as the Logic Package sequence mirror flow charts. Through dynamic geometrical shapes, Siena creates vibrant and intricate work that challenges the viewer’s perception. His pieces Battery (1997) and Dr. Michelle Carlson (2011) feature such intense patterns, they create the impression of an optical illusion. Featuring concentrated complex patterns, his work is often referred to as ‘visual algorithms’.
Drawing from artificial intelligence, James Siena proceeded to explore the visual tropes of labyrinths and puzzles. His work encompasses a variety media including painting, sculpture, lithography, etching, woodcut, bronze-work, engraving, enamelling and drawing. Influenced by American cartoonist, Rube Goldberg, his work encapsulates a sense of mechanical movement. Goldberg drew complex machines performing basic tasks, which Siena likened to his own work, resembling two dimensional machines. A key figure in the modern art scene, his work has been exhibited throughout the U.S such as at The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco and The Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art and Whitney Museum in New York.
