Prominent Painter James Siena to Give Free Lecture at Kent State on May 30

Kent/Blossom Art will present a free guest lecture from acclaimed abstract painter James Siena on Thursday, May 30, as part of Kent State’s College of the Arts Public Lecture Series. The lecture will take place at 6 p.m. in Room 202 of the Art Building on the Kent State campus. It is free and open to the public.


Siena’s work features rule-based linear abstractions, which create “linear algorithms” expressed through brightly colored geometric designs. “They're procedures," Siena said of the rules governing his paintings. “Each painting has to do with carrying out a procedure, no matter how simple. It's the task of making it physical.”

In addition to painting, Siena also engages in lithography, etching, woodcut, engraving and drawing. His work can be seen in collections including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Siena earned his bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Cornell University.

Siena’s work has been displayed in many solo exhibitions, including shows at the Pace Gallery, the Daniel Weinberg Gallery, the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, the Atlantic Center for the Arts and the Mario Diacono Gallery.


Kent State’s College of the Arts Public Lecture Series gives the general public an opportunity to hear from top artists in the fields of painting, sculpture, printmaking and ceramics. The Kent/Blossom Art program also includes two-week intensive workshops in these areas of study, available at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

For more information, visit dept.kent.edu/art or call 330-672-2192.

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Media Contacts:
Effie Tsengas, etsengas@kent.edu, 330-672-8398
Bob Burford, rburford@kent.edu, 330-672-8516