Season

 MARCH 2-6 2016

SEASON IS PROUD TO PRESENT A SOLO BOOTH PRESENTATION OF MIKE SIMI AT VOLTA ART FAIR, NEW YORK CITY.

TENDERNESS AND ROT

Mike Simi was born in Newberry, a small town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA.  The outcome of his living in such a remote location was the creation of a strong ability to self-entertain.  This, combined with a loving but offbeat family, has given Mike a keen sense of dark humor.  His artwork is creatively simple and subtly subversive and allows for his sculptures to become troublemakers, denying themselves their original functions while barely able to operate with their new identity.  Although confused, these objects continue to push on, working towards a new unknown purpose. A schizophrenic respect for all things exists side-by-side with a harmless disregard towards every thing.  The common denominator in his work is a smart and incisive commentary on the trappings of self-representation by way of class and economy.  Recent ink drawings show a naive urgency to communicate.  Half earnest, half tongue-in-cheek, these drawings often reveal a truth wrapped in humor.  Mike Simi recognizes the conflict hidden within his works, and believes that conflict can be a form of beauty and a place of honest communication.

Mike studied ceramics at Northern Michigan University and received his MFA at the University of Washington in 2007, where he studied with Akio Takamori and Jamie Walker.  While there, his studies lead him into advanced computer robotics that dealt with the dual representation of a social persona and a private persona. Recent shows include exhibitions in London, Kuwait City, New York City, Chicago and Seattle, with residencies at Pilchuck Glass, Stanwood, Washington, and S12 Glassworks, Bergen, Norway.  Mike Simi lives and works in Chicago Illinois.