Jason Seife
Quick Facts
Biography
Jason Seife (born 1989) is an American visual artist and musician, from South Florida. He works in painting, drawing, sculpture, installations and site-specific projects, digital animations, and generative art. In his paintings and objects, Seife's work investigate Middle Eastern heritage and culture through a contemporary approach, and investigates Persian carpet designs.
Background and career
Jason Seife was born in 1989 in Miami, Florida. He was born in Miami, Florida to a Cuban mother and a Syrian father.
To expand his study and research of traditional textiles, he also made trips to Morocco, Turkey, Iran and Syria to meet with carpet-weavers and local artists.
Artistic process
Seife, who has worked as a graphic designer, began producing paintings from the age of 7. Regarding Seife's artistic process, his starting point is to create the paintings, often acrylic on canvas and sometimes acrylic on concrete, by digitally designing elements and combining colors that can translate into compositions. The artist goes on to hand-draw and paint on the canvas. His paints can take weeks or months to be finalized.
Digital artworks
In 2021, Seife developed, alongside Andrew Cassetti, an algorithmic code that turned eleven hand-drawn artworks into endlessly iterations of designs. Seife's algorithmic model is set to juxtapose and reflect the units within the patterns in order to create new versions of his designs.
Music industry
In his early twenties, Seife performed and toured with bands before returning to the visual arts: "After playing with bands for so long, I realized how much I miss drawing." Said the artist to Harper's Bazaar magazine, in 2020. Prior to pursue his artistic career, the artist collaborated with well-established artists in the music industry such as Nicki Minaj, Pharrell Williams, and Big Sean.
Critical reception
In the aftermath of Seife's solo show in London, Mark Westall, founding editor of FAD Magazine commented on his work
"This physical-digital-physical process not only allows Seife to create a more powerful visual experience, it also stresses the notion that craftsmanship remains at the center of the artistic process."
Solo exhibitions
Jason Seife have had solo exhibitions in artistic venues in the United States, Middle East, and Europe.
- 2018, Writing on the Walls, Montoro12 Gallery, Brussels
- 2018, Nucleus, Sharjah Art Museum, United Arab Emirates
- 2021, Museo Carlo Bilotti, Rome
- 2021, A Small Spark vs a Great Forest, Unit London, United Kingdom
- 2022, Generascope, ICD Brookfield Place at Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
- 2023, Coming to Fruition, Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida
Public collections
Seife's work is featured in museum and institutions collections, include Fort Wayne Museum of Art; Indiana; Mosaic Art Foundation, Istanbul; Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas; Dean Collection, Los Angeles; Contemporary Art Platform Kuwait; and the Tribal Art Foundation, Raipur, India.