Artist Jonathan Sims.

Installation        Painting        Print       Curation
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Artist Jonathan Sims.

Installation        Painting        Print       Curation
About/CV        Contact        Instagram        Store
BIO/STATEMENT
Jonathan Sims is a New York City based visual artist. Born in Austin, Texas, he began his practice with painting, but has since moved into sculpture, projection installations, print and curation.

His visual arts practice is characterized by geometric abstractions and light. A consistent premise underlying his work is that a modern human’s relationship with the very ancient past is mirrored in their relationship with the distant future.

2012 marks Sims’ first exhibitions in Texas before moving to NYC in 2013. Sims joined the Flux Factory Residency program in 2016, where he maintains a studio and sits on the board. Major shows include a solo exhibition at Flux Factory in New York City in 2017, and installations at Lehman College, the Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival in the UAE, and Washington College in 2018-19.

Since 2016, Sims has participated in a number of residencies, including Wassaic Project, the Visible Futures Lab at SVA, ChaNorth, Aros Art Museum in Aarhus, Denmark, and the Listhús Residency in Iceland.

Sims has also curated three major group art exhibitions, two of which focus on light art in dark spaces: Solstice in 2019 at Flux Factory, and SPACE:LIGHT at Plaxall in 2020.

“My artwork seeks the underlying geometry of all things, with full awareness that the geometries of our universe, societies, thinking, and emotions innately refuse comprehension. Instead of demanding answers, I believe that patterns lie within the questions themselves, and within those who ask them.

I create experiences that reveal patterns in the structures of the human mind. In the visual arts, particularly abstraction, I can engage these ideas without being forced to rigorously define them within the philosophical paradigms built on foundations of obsolete hierarchies.

My practice stretches across different mediums, but these share common themes, particularly geometric form and composition that suggest language and mathematical arrangement. I love working in light because its physics are so deeply complex and subtle that I often feel that I am merely guiding light into being instead of actively molding and constraining it.

I tend to think of my work as a form of conjuring, and I draw on a number of influences: astronomy, language, divination, poetry, mirrors, ancient monuments, spells, astrolabes, radiant designs, sigils, and spaceflight, among many others.I hope that my work can float in a space out of the contemporary moment and between all these influences, drawing a through-line that connects ancient humanity through history and into today, and then suggests possibilities about our distant future.”




CV   
 (Download as PDF)

Jonathan Sims (b. 1982: Austin, Texas)
Lives and Works in Brooklyn, NY
http://chromadetic.com          


EXHIBITIONS
2021:
: Lumina. – Group Exhibition. Local Project. New York, NY.
: Illusional.  – Group Exhibition. 7 East 14th St. Chashama. New York, NY.
: The Gift in the Wound.  – Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. New York, NY.

2020:
: Tree of Heaven. – Exhibition. Paradice Palase, Brooklyn, NY.
: Song for Sickness. – Exhibition. Flux Factory, Long Island City, NY.

2019:
: Solstice. – Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY.
: Feels Like a New Beginning. – Group Exhibition. Brooklyn, NY.
: Space:Light. – Group Exhibition. Plaxall Gallery. Long Island City, NY.
: Sign Systems. – Group Exhibition. Kohl Gallery, Washington College. Chestertown, MD.
: Dream Together. – Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY
: Light Year 47: Tales of Diverted Reality. – Projection Screening. Brooklyn, NY.

2018:
: The Unfixed Stars. – Festival. Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. (Upcoming)
: Congregation. – Festival. Freak Flag Fest, Brooklyn, NY.
: Flux Artist in Residence Exhibition. – Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY. 
: Tick Tock. – Group Exhibition. Lehman College Art Gallery. Bronx, NY 
: Flux City Six. – Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY.
: Visible Futures Lab Residency Exhibition. – Solo Exhibition. The School for Visual Arts. New York, NY
 
2017:
: Haunted Mill. – Group Exhibition. The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, NY.
: The Illuminati Ball. – Event. The Weylin. Brooklyn, NY.
: Lost Bridge Exchange. – Pop-up Art Event. Brooklyn, NY.
: Making Connections. – Group Exhibition. Long Island City Artists, Plaxall Gallery. Long Island City, NY.
: Body Farm. – Group Exhibition, Paradice Palase. Bushwick, NY.
: An Invocation at a Moment of Cataclysm. – Solo Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY.
: Dark Before Dawn. – Group Exhibition. Queens, NY.
: The Endless and Mobile Beautiful Collapsible Labyrinth. - Group Exhibition, Flux Factory. LIC, NY.

2016  
: Flux Factory Tenth Annual Auction. – Benefit. New York City, NY.
: SNAP, INSTA, POP. - Group Exhibition. ArtHelix Gallery. Brooklyn, NY.
: A False Door, Governor’s Island Art Fair. – Art Fair. Governor’s Island, NY.
: CON V // VARIFORM. – Performance and Projection. Brooklyn Bowl. Brooklyn, NY.
: Conjuration II. – Destination Moon Festival. Wurtsboro, NY.
: Spell for the Coming Forth of a Man... - Summer Solstices Film Festival. Kingsbury, TX.
: A Conjuration. – Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival. San Antonio, TX.

2015
: BRIC Media Arts Fellowship Public Screening. – Screening and Artist Talk. Brooklyn, NY.
: A Conjuration. – Luminaria Contemporary Arts Festival. San Antonio, TX.
: Fragments of a Bygone Future, Governor’s Island Art Fair. – Art Fair. Governor’s Island, NY.
: Seeking Space, Arts in Bushwick. – Group Exhibition. Be Electric Studios. Brooklyn, NY.
: Arts in Bushwick Benefit. – Benefit. Storefront Ten Eyck, Brooklyn, NY.

2014  
: Almanac. – Group Show. Wayfarers Studio. Brooklyn, NY.
: Bushwick Open Studios. - Open Studio Exhibition. Wayfarers Studio. Brooklyn, NY.
: Arts in Bushwick Benefit. – Benefit. Storefront Ten Eyck, Brooklyn, NY.
: Cracian Permutations and Enseigne. – Studio Exhibition. Wayfarers Studio. Brooklyn, NY.

2013
: Southwest School of Art Gala. – Benefit. Southwest School of Art, San Antonio, TX.
: Syntaxis Lineae. – Solo Exhibition. SoPac Studio, San Antonio, TX.
: Interstices. – Two Person Exhibition. SoPac Studio, San Antonio, TX.
: Candescere. – Luminaria Arts Festival. Instituto Cultural de Mexico, San Antonio, TX.

2012
: GLOW: The Nuclear Show. – Group Exhibition. Bihl Haus Arts, San Antonio, TX.
: The Walls of the City. – Group Exhibition. FL!GHT, San Antonio, TX.

RESIDENCIES, FELLOWSHIPS & AFFILIATIONS
2016-2021:
: Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY. Long-term Community Artist in Residence & Board Member.
2019:
: Pulse Laser Holography Workshop. Center for Holographic Arts, Columbus, OH. Artist in Residence.
2018:
: Listhús Artist Residency Program. Olafsfjordur, Iceland. Artist in Residence.
: ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum. Aarhus, Denmark. Artist in Residence.
: chaNorth Residency. Pine Plains, NY. Artist in Residence.
: School for Visual Arts, Visible Futures Lab. New York, NY. Artist in Residence.
2017:
: The Wassaic Project. Wassaic, NY. Education Fellow & Artist in Residence.
2016:
: Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY. Long-term Community Artist in Residence & Board Member.
2015:
: BRIC Arts Media. Brooklyn, NY. Media Arts Fellow.
2014:
: Wayfarers Brooklyn Art Collective. Brooklyn, NY. Artist Member.
2013:
: SoPac Studio, San Antonio, TX. Owner/Operator.

CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2020:
: Space:Light. – Curator, Group Exhibition. Holocenter at Plaxall Gallery. Queens, NY. October. (Upcoming)
2019:
: Solstice. – Curator, Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY. December.
2018:
: The New Non. – Curator, Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY. June.
: ANYTHING! – Co-Curator, Group Exhibition. Flux Factory. Long Island City, NY. April

ARTIST TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
2019:
: Panel. Intersubjectivities and Social Media, Transborder Arts, New York. January.
2018:
: Presentation. Sharjah Islamic Arts Festival, Sharjah Art Museum, United Arab Emirates. December.
: Presentation. Aros Art Museum, Aarhus, Denmark. August.
: Presentation. Flux Thursday, Flux Factory, Long Island City, NY. June.
: Presentation. Artist in Residence.—School for Visual Arts, Manhattan, NY. January and March.
: Panel. Wassaic Information Session, Ortega y Gasset, Brooklyn, NY. January.
2016:
: Presentation. SHIM Artist Talks, ArtHelix, Brooklyn, NY. November.
2015:
: Panel. Bric Media Fellowship, BRIC, Brooklyn NY. November.