James Siena

Siena's work represents an important tendency in American drawings of the 1990s characterized by an accumulation of complex linear patterns. "Heliopolis" is typical of Siena's intricate compositions based on rules that he sets for himself. The title refers to a village on the Ile du Levant, a French Mediterranean island where the artist goes regularly. Siena likened the motif of the drawing, which he had used in earlier works, to the village street plan, with its main road running uphill. The small scale of the work and its labor-intensive technique recall manuscript illuminations.