Elias Sime

Last updated
Elias Sime
Born1968 (age 55–56)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Alma mater Addis Ababa University, Alle School of Fine Arts
Notable workTightrope series
Movement Contemporary art
SpouseMeskerem 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]

Contents

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

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References

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