“At a certain point I wanted to make drawings and works that act as machines. The way they act as machines is you have to find your way into them and find your way out of them. As you undo the making of them they come to life” [i] - James Siena
Bookstein Projects is pleased to announce an exhibition of work on paper by James Siena created between 1999 and 2022. This is the artist's first solo show with Bookstein Projects.
Comprised of approximately twenty works on paper including graphite and ink drawings as well as gouaches, this exhibition will present a cross-section of Siena’s practice on paper. Motifs represented include his Hooks, Manifolds, Sawtooths, Toothpick drawings, Text pieces and, more specifically, Nihilisms to name a few. As with his paintings, these works are created with a set of self-imposed formal restraints Siena calls “visual algorithms” that come together to form compositions that reference distorted asymmetrical patterns.
James Siena (b. 1957, Oceanside, CA) received his BFA from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. For over two decades, the artist has taught at New York’s School of Visual Arts in the MFA department. He is a board member of the Corporation of Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY, the National Academy of Design, New York, and the Herbert F. Johnson Museum at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Siena was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in Fine Arts by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 2021.
Siena’s work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Miles McEnery Gallery, New York, Baronian Xippas, Brussels, Dieu Donné, New York, Galerie Xippas, Paris, Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Pace Gallery, New York, Pace Prints, New York, The Print Center, Philadelphia, Ratio 3, San Francisco, and the University Art Museum, University of Albany, New York, among others.
The artist has participated in numerous group exhibitions including those at the American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.
His work is in numerous institutional collections including the Hammer Museum, University of California, Los Angeles, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.
The artist lives and works in New York, NY and Otis, MA.
James Siena: Work on Paper, 1999 - 2022 will be on view from March 2 – April 14, 2023. An opening reception with the artist will be held on Wednesday, March 1st from 6:00 – 8:00 PM. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. For additional information and/or visual materials, please contact the gallery at (212) 750-0949 or by email at [email protected].
