© siene de vries 2010 | site design greenfolder
Born in the Netherlands in 1956, New Zealand based artist Siene de Vries studied painting and sculpture at the Academie voor Beeldende Kunsten ‘Academie Minerva’, in Groningen from 1976 till 1981. After leaving art school, Siene established a career in Holland as a painter of realist portraits, still life and landscapes, exhibiting in a number of solo and group shows in the Netherlands, as well as Germany and Switzerland. During this time he was also involved in teaching, both privately and at art institutions, and was instrumental in organizing several local arts festivals.
In 1988, Siene, along with his wife, printmaker Saskia van Voorn, and their two young sons, made the move to New Zealand where they settled on a small farm in Banks Peninsula’s beautiful Le Bons Bay. Siene and Saskia have lived and worked on this property for over twenty years, where their rural lifestyle and surrounding environment has become an important feature of both their practices. Recently, the pair have opened their studios to the public for a month long exhibition, held in January each year, which draws a local and international audience.
Siene’s work is largely figurative, although some abstract tendencies emerge from time to time. His practice continues to be characterised by an interest in the realist tradition, embracing subjects such as landscape, still life, portraiture and the nude. Siene paints mainly in oils using broad brush strokes, which are often augmented by finer, more detailed areas of work when necessary. His sculpture tends toward the gestural, where evidence of the modeling process remains in the cast bronze. Lately his bronze sculptures have dealt with themes relating to the human condition in a socio-political context.
Siene's work is held in public and private collections around the world, and he regularly exhibits in both New Zealand and the Netherlands.
Selected solo and group exhibitions;
2020 Summer exhibition, Le Bons Bay StudiosThe Artist in his Studio and Sculpture Workshop
"Paintings from the Wild Side".
Exhibition at "Chambers Art Gallery" in Christchurch New Zealand.
Sept./Oct. 2018
When evening falls over Pegasus Bay
oil paint on linen | 100 x 100 cm |
When evening falls over Pegasus Bay 2
oil paint on linen | 106 x 91 cm |
Endings and Beginnings
oil paint on linen | 100 x 100 cm |
Bovine Mourning
oil paint on linen | 100 x 100 cm |
Still-life Bread and Egg Shells
oil paint on linen | 85 x 85 cm |
"More paintings from the Misty Peaks of Horomaka"
Exhibition at "Chambers Art Gallery" in Christchurch New Zealand.
Sep/Oct. 2020
Shaded Chillies
oil on canvas | 100 x 85 cm |
She can take the Dark out of the Night time
oil on canvas | 100 x 110 cm |
Flakes and Flowers
oil on canvas | 75 x 55 cm |
All the Tired Horses
oil on canvas | 100 x 85 cm |
Gather Flowers Constantly
oil on canvas | 100 x 85 cm |
Pears
oil on canvas | 50 x 50 cm |
The Hunter (Sam H.)
oil on canvas | 100 x 100 cm |
Saskia
oil on canvas | 60 x 50 cm |
Fly
bronze and granite | approx 25 x 15 x 15 cm |
Sorrow
bronze and granite | approx 25 x 15 x 15 cm |
Fallen
bronze and granite | approx 15 x 15 x 15 cm |
© siene de vries 2010 | site design greenfolder