The Story
“I don’t think about it much. I pick up a canvas, grab a small flashlight, and dive into the night.”
30 years ago,
Jan Siebert literally stepped out of his zone of comfort and left everything behind, embarking on a path that would take him far beyond the European world he knew. Born in Germany, Siebert made the radical decision to walk away from the familiar, immersing himself in the complex realities of Latin America—most notably in Mexico and Brazil—where he discovered new social realities previously unimaginable.
Radical shift
This was not a mere fleeting encounter but a life-changing journey into the unknown. He didn’t simply visit new places or learn new languages; he dove deeply into the cities, absorbing profound cultural codes and embracing the many-layered nuances of everyday life—its gestures, rhythms, contradictions, and the constant play of double, triple, and even quadruple meanings in language and expression.
Radical social integration
Siebert’s path has been one of risk, danger, and total commitment: plunging into cultures at their most raw and vibrant, engaging from the inside, and becoming the observer within.
He captures the ordinary and the clandestine, the visible and the unseen, the common and the extraordinary, all within a realm beyond the reach of most—moments concealed in favelas, brothels, and the shadowed corners of ghettoed cityscapes, often in the dead of night.
Radical perspective
Venturing out with nothing but the most basic materials—canvas, easel, paints, and a small flashlight— Siebert risks the unpredictability of the streets to capture raw scenes and dreamlike atmospheres that would elude the conventional studio artist. His practice is on the front lines, marked by deep immersion and total immediacy, painting directly in the heart of the environment and translating the pulse of the city and the intensity of life into colorful, moody works.
Radical expression
His paintings become a window into a parallel world—a space suspended between reality and dream, where the ordinary and the extraordinary coexist. Each work captures fleeting instants, charged with color, light, and spirit, translating the rhythms, tensions, and hidden nuances of life that often go unnoticed. In these rare vignettes, the viewer is invited to step beyond the familiar and wander through urban nights, clandestine corners, and natural landscapes of a hidden world, transformed by the intensity of lived experience.
Cultural Exile
Siebert left Europe nearly three decades ago, choosing a life of self-imposed cultural exile that shaped his artistic vision far from familiar ground and led him into unknown worlds.
Social Integration
Through years of living in favelas, urban neighborhoods, and remote communities, he integrated into local realities and relationships that deeply inform his work.
Human Integrity
Through his paintings, he honors the integrity of the human moment, portraying people and their environments with a clarity and respect that preserves their truth.
