Congratulations to Firelei Báez and Elias Sime on their participation in the 59th International Venice Biennale, The Milk of Dreams, curated by Cecilia Alemani. Both artists are featured in the central exhibition at the Arsenale, marking their Venice debuts. The Biennale is open to the public from April 23 through November 27, 2022, with previews beginning on April 19.
Firelei Báez
For Firelei Báez, painting is a method of giving form to memory, evincing the idea that presence is not negated by passing. In her work, mark-making is an entry-point for personal, embodied engagement with Afro-diasporic cultural re-memory—a means of situating subjugated personal memory and experience in dialogue with narratives of the Western tradition. In Muzidi Calabi Yau Space (or a matter of navigation), 2022, Báez continues her exploration of the Afro-futurist Drexciya myth.
To learn more about Firelei Báez's work in Venice, click here.
Elias Sime
Ethiopian artist Elias Sime creates monumental modular artworks out of salvaged technological materials including electrical wires, circuit boards, keyboards, and other computer parts. Transformation is at the heart of his approach to creation: his art is about telling a story using the materials that will best express it. In his new works for the 59th Venice Biennale, Sime works in three dimensions, bringing his wall-based artworks into conversation with his sculptural and architectural practices, and pushing against restrictive boundaries between media. As Sime often says, “I make my art with freedom, and I want viewers to freely interpret them from their own points of view.”
To learn more about Elias Sime's work in Venice, click here.