Brace yourselves, Sims fans - beginning tomorrow, an exhibition of art inspired by the venerable life simulator will open at the Chelsea Art Museum  in New York City. Titled "The Sims: In the Hands of Artists," the exhibit is a joint effort by Sims publisher Electronic Arts and New York art school Parsons The New School for Design. Featuring work by Parsons students, the exhibit will showcase machinima, toys, paintings, drawings and interactive installations, all based around the game.

Honestly, though, most of the pieces we've seen from the exhibit have a shaky connection to The Sims at best, leading us to question whether some of the artists have even a passing familiarity with the game (although we should point out that they're only a small sampling of a larger exhibit). Rather than hastily pass judgment, we've asked Tyler Wilde - CheatPlanet overlord and GR's resident fine arts major - to do it for us by critiquing a handful of examples from the exhibition. If you'd like to judge for yourself, you can check them out - complete with descriptions from EA and commentary from Tyler - by hitting the page tabs at left.

The exhibit will run until May 12, and a free reception is planned at the Chelsea Art Museum tomorrow from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. After the exhibit closes, it'll travel to San Francisco's 79 Gallery at Academy of Art University from June 26 to July 19, and again to Los Angeles' Ben Maltz Gallery at Otis College of Art and Design from July 14 to Aug. 11.

 April 18, 2007