Elias Sime Explained

Elias Sime
Birth Place:Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Alma Mater:Addis Ababa University, Alle School of Fine Arts
Notable Works:Tightrope series
Movement:Contemporary art
Spouse:Meskerem Assegued

Elias Sime (1968, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia) is a world-renowned Ethiopian visual artist and sculptor who works with industrial materials and electronic detritus, or "e-waste") such as microchips, power cords, computers, and other discarded components and residues from tech manufactures.[1] [2] [3]

Life and Education

Elias Sime graduated from the Addis Ababa University Alle School of Fine Arts and Design in 1990.[4] He co-founded the Zoma Contemporary Art Center, with his creative partner, curator, and anthropologist Meskerem Assegued, an exhibition venue and artist-in-residence space in Addis Ababa.[5] [6]

Work

Elias Sime's work is recognized by the use of e-waste, the tech industry waste, found and acquired in Addis Ababa’s Mercato market—the biggest open-air market in Africa and where most of the tech materials from the West is passed along through a global network of moving goods. The numerous keyboards, microchips, copper electrical wires, batteries, pieces of screens and older-generation computers found in Sime's large-scale wall installations originates from the Mercato market.[7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

The solo exhibition Elias Sime: Tightrope, a first exhibition survey on his work about his intricate pieces of man-made tech and industrial materials, was on view from 2020-2021 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri, and later traveled to Akron Art Museum in Akron, Ohio; and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.[12] [13] [14]

In 2024, the solo show Elias Sime: Dichotomy ፊት አና ጀርባ as part of the events surrounding the 60th Venice Biennale, Italy, comments on the human use of technological resources, the material waste by Western culture, and the constant overlooked conditions in which these materials are discarded.[15] [16] [17]

Collections

Elias Sime's work is included in the collections of the Pérez Art Museum Miami, Florida; the Metropolitan Museum of Art,[18] New York; the North Carolina Museum of Art,[19] North Carolina; and the Saint Louis Art Museum,[20] Missouri; among others.

Further reading

References

  1. Web site: 2024-04-18 . Elias Sime unearths the catastrophic beauty of mineral extraction in his new Venice show . 2024-06-19 . The Art Newspaper - International art news and events.
  2. Web site: Piepenbring . Dan . 2017-05-01 . Twisted and Hidden . 2024-06-19 . The Paris Review . en.
  3. Web site: Schmelder . Brooke . 2020-07-31 . Elias Sime: Walking a Tightrope between Nature and Technology . 2024-06-19 . Saint Louis Art Museum . en-US.
  4. Web site: Elias Sime - Announcements - e-flux . 2024-06-19 . www.e-flux.com . en.
  5. Web site: Elias Sime mines the Chinafrica connection with his motherboard murals . 2024-06-19 . Art Basel . en.
  6. Web site: 2024-05-20 . How an artist and curator duo are transforming Addis Ababa with their eco-driven projects . 2024-06-19 . The Art Newspaper - International art news and events.
  7. Web site: Watlington . Emily . 2024-04-17 . Elias Sime's E-Waste Abstractions for Venice Are Tightly Linked With His Community Projects in Ethiopia . 2024-06-19 . ARTnews.com . en-US.
  8. Web site: Mothes . Kate . 2024-02-15 . Elias Sime Weaves Connections Between Ancient Ethiopian Craft Traditions and Today's Technology . 2024-06-19 . Colossal . en.
  9. Web site: BOMB Magazine Social Sculpture: Elias Sime Interviewed . 2024-06-19 . BOMB Magazine . en.
  10. Web site: 2019-11-07 . Ethiopian Artist Elias Sime's First Major Show Goes on View at the Wellin Museum . 2024-06-19 . Galerie . en-US.
  11. Web site: Article . Will Fenstermaker ShareShare This . 2020-03-25 . 'I Had to Fight to Show What I Could Do': How Elias Sime Emerged as One of Africa's Leading Contemporary Artists . 2024-06-19 . Artnet News . en-US.
  12. Web site: Elias Sime: Tightrope Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art . 2024-06-19 . www.kemperart.org . en.
  13. Web site: Elias Sime: Tightrope . 2024-06-19 . Google Arts & Culture . en.
  14. Web site: Elias Sime: Tightrope . 2024-06-19 . Royal Ontario Museum . en.
  15. Web site: Gameli Hamelo . 2024-04-17 . Elias Sime reflects on the destructive nature of technology in Venice . 2024-06-19 . wallpaper.com . en.
  16. Web site: Maps . Arsenale See on Google . 2022-04-05 . Biennale Arte 2022 Elias Sime . 2024-06-19 . La Biennale di Venezia . en.
  17. Web site: Russell . Livia . Sime . Elias . 2024-04-03 . Work in Progress: Elias Sime—"I make art because I am addicted to it" . 2024-06-19 . Frieze . en.
  18. Web site: Elias Sime Tightrope 5.1 . 2024-06-19 . The Metropolitan Museum of Art . en.
  19. Web site: Tightrope 9 – NCMALearn . 2024-06-19 . learn.ncartmuseum.org.
  20. Web site: Untitled 4 . 2024-06-19 . Saint Louis Art Museum . en-US.
  21. Book: Sime . Elias . Elias Sime - tightrope . Adler . Tracy L. . 2019 . DelMonico Books, Prestel . Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art . 978-3-7913-5881-9 . Munich London New York.

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