Matthew Marks Gallery

This monograph is the first to focus exclusively on Paul Sietsema’s paintings and drawings. With depictions of objects that invoke a sense of history, Sietsema explores how images are made and circulated today. The book opens with a survey essay by Tim Griffin considering the central conundrum of time in the artist’s work: ”Sietsema outwits his epoch, perhaps, by outlasting it in execution, with his work becoming an article of the past sometimes before being seen, or recognized, in the present.”

A series of texts by Emiliano Battista and Eva Fabbris address other core themes, from “circle” and “verso” to “studio” and “hand.” In the extensive plate section, fifty-three works spanning seven years are illustrated in full color. With examples from all of Sietsema’s bodies of work on paper or linen, these plates showcase the wide range of mark-making Sietsema not only deploys but also depicts, perpetually shifting between material registers in ink, enamel, and acrylic.