Elias Sime
Born 1968, Addis Ababa (ET)
Lives and works in Addis Ababa (ET)
Elias Sime (b. 1968 in Addis Ababa, ET) is a multi-disciplinary artist, best known for his large-scale reliefs made from recycled consumer electronics. Sime’s process is motivated by a will to re-claim and re-examine our relationship to our environment. He uses braiding and layering techniques to create vast mosaics composed of keyboards, circuits, wires, and all manner of e-waste imported into his home country, Ethiopia. These materials are sourced from the largest open-air market in Africa located in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Sime’s works serve as records of the global exchange of commodities, and the conceptual transformations of matter from raw materials, to machine, waste, and finally as art. He alternates between biomorphic forms, landscapes, and pure abstraction, relying on the materials to guide his intuitive, measured approach. The equilibrium of universalists concepts—between humanity and nature, progress and tradition, material, and concept—are explored in the artist’s most recent series Tightrope. The title refers to the precarious balance between the advancements that technology has made possible and their detrimental impact on the environment. Sime’s works draw upon their materiality, to comment on the resilience of nature, social responsibility, and the beauty of the utilitarian.
Elias Sime is deeply involved in developing the Ethiopian art community and has established a research practice studying the ancient rituals of rural communities in the country. Together with his long-time collaborator, curator and anthropologist Meskerem Assegued, Sime founded the Zoma Museum which opened in Addis Ababa in 2019. Comprising a school, farm, garden, library, and exhibition and project space, Zoma offers a holistic conception of how community, sustainability, and art can be merged into a unified vision—one that posits a way forward toward a future in which nature, society, and creativity thrive together.
Sime's exhibition Tightrope has traveled to the Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH (US), the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Clinton, NY (US), the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, MO (US), and the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (CA).
His work is included in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY (US); The Israel Museum, Jerusalem (IL); North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC (US); Toledo Museum of Art, OH (US); Perez Museum of Art, Miami, FL (US); Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA (US); Detroit Institute of Arts, MI (US); Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA (US); North Dakota Museum of Art, ND (US); Newark Museum, NJ (US); Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, OH (US); Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL (US); Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, NH (US); Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (US); Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO (US); and the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Art Foundation, Santa Fe, NM (US), as well as in many private collections.
In 2019, Sime was awarded the African Art Award by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, and he is a 2020 Hugo Boss Prize Nominee. Sime's work is currently included in the 2022 Venice Bienniale Il Latte Dei Sogni (The Milk of Dreams).
-
54 White Street | Inaugural exhibition
GRIMM's new gallery in Tribeca 20 Mar - 17 Apr 2021 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US)Join us in March 2021 for the grand opening of GRIMM's new space in Tribeca at 54 White Street. For more further information, please email info@grimmgallery.comRead more -
Elias Sime
Tightrope: Concave Triangles 4 - 26 Sep 2020 GRIMM Keizersgracht 241, Amsterdam (NL) -
Frieze New York
Group presentation 8 - 16 May 2020 GRIMM Van Baerlestraat 80, Amsterdam (NL)Frieze presentation at GRIMM's new Van Baerlestraat 80 location in Amsterdam.Read more -
Elias Sime
Tightrope 7 Sep - 8 Dec 2019 Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College, Clinton, NY (US), Other locations -
Elias Sime
Tightrope 23 Nov 2018 - 26 Jan 2019 Frans Halsstraat 26, Amsterdam (NL), Other locations
-
Elias Sime
Jessica Baran, Art Forum, January 2, 2021 -
34 galeries om in het nieuwe seizoen te bezoeken (in Dutch)
Het Parool, August 29, 2020 -
Elias Sime Remixes Tech Detritus in Stunning New Works
Art & Object, August 7, 2020 -
How Ethiopian art secured its spot on the world's stage
Ginanne Brownell, CNN, July 31, 2020 -
Best Bets: Elias Sime, Cirque Italia, Renée Fleming, Poetic Justice, 'Dog Days of Summer'
SLT, July 30, 2020 -
‘I Had to Fight to Show What I Could Do’: How Elias Sime Emerged as One of Africa’s Leading Contemporary Artists
Will Fenstermaker, Artnet News, March 25, 2020 -
Elias Sime, Wellin-featured artist, is honored at Smithsonian’s 2019 African Art Awards
Karina Bayrakdarian , The Spectator, November 7, 2019 -
Smithsonian Honors Wellin Exhibiting Artist Sime
Vige Barrie, Hamilton, October 28, 2019 -
Love and Craftsmanship in the Relationship Between Machines and Humanity
Seph Rodney, Hyperallergic, September 17, 2019 -
Elias Sime
Zack Hatfield, Artforum, September 3, 2019 -
‘It’s All About Life’: Ethiopia’s Newest Art Museum Doubles as an Experiment in Environmental Sustainability
Kate Brown, Artnet News, April 22, 2019 -
Addis Fine Art: helping Ethiopian artists thrive at home and abroad
Rebecca Anne Proctor, The National, March 21, 2019 -
Het afval van rijke landen (in Dutch)
Kees Keijer, Het Parool, January 11, 2019 -
Elias Sime
Leigh Anne Miller, Art in America, May 18, 2017 -
Arts Center in Ethiopia Links Local and Global
Ginanne Brownell Mitic, The New York Times, June 16, 2016 -
Feature: Elias Sime
Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Pin-Up, March 21, 2016 -
Finding Our Way Amid the Modern Fatalism of Circuit Boards
Seph Rodney, Hyperallergic, October 14, 2015 -
In Sprawling Panels, Ethiopian Artist Elias Sime Recycles the First World’s Circuit Boards
Alex Allenchey, Artsy, October 1, 2015 -
Elias Sime Recycles Discarded Objects Into Abstract Works
Holland Cotter, The New York Times, October 1, 2015 -
Ethiopian artist Elias Sime's New York debut exhibition opens at James Cohan Gallery
Art Daily, September 15, 2015 -
Elias Sime
Quinn Latimer, Frieze, June 1, 2009 -
State of Play: Elias Sime at Santa Monica Museum of Art
Christopher Miles, L.A. Weekly, April 8, 2009 -
An artist’s saving grace
Scarlet Cheng, Los Angeles Times, February 18, 2009
-
Elias Sime shortlisted for The Hugo Boss Prize 2020
Elias Sime November 19, 2019The Guggenheim Museum in New York announced today its shortlist for the prestigious Hugo Boss Prize, a biennial award that honours outstanding achievement in contemporary...Read more -
Elias Sime receives 2019 African Art Award
Elias Sime October 25, 2019Congratulations to Elias Sime on receiving the 2019 African Art Award, presented by the Smithsonian’s National Museum Of African Art tonight, 25 October 2019. Sime’s...Read more -
Elias Sime: Tightrope | Exhibition Trailer | Wellin Museum of Art
Elias Sime December 18, 2018