George Simon (Künstler)

George Simon (b. 23 April 1947) is a Lokono Arawak artist and archaeologist from Guyana. As an artist, Simon is best known for his large-scale acrylic paintings. He is widely regarded as one of the leading Guyanese artists of his generation, and his paintings are notable for their explorations of Amerindian culture and the Guyanese environment. Simon has also been recognized for his achievements as an educator, his efforts to develop opportunities for Amerindian artists in Guyana, and for his work as archaeologist.

Life

Early Years

George Simon was born on 23 April 1947 to Olive and Mark Simon in St. Cuthbert's Mission, on the Mahaicony River in Guyana. His father was a woodcutter, and his mother was a housewife. Simon attended school at St Cuthbert's Mission up until the age of 12.

When he was 12 years old, Simon was adopted by James William Pink - an English Anglican priest who was serving in the Mahaica-Berbice region at that time. He subsequently moved with his foster-father to Linden and then to Georgetown, where he studied English, Mathematics, Geography, Hygiene, Physiology and Art at Christ Church Secondary School.

England

In 1970, Simon and his foster-father moved to Essex, England. From 1972 to 1974, Simon studied A Level Art at Thurrock and Basildon College in Essex. In 1975, Simon enrolled at the University of Portsmouth where he studied for a BA in fine art, with a special focus on art history and nineteenth-century art. He graduated with honours in 1978.

Guyana

In 1978, Simon returned to Guyana and began working as a lecturer in art at the Burrowes School of Art, and then at the University of Guyana. During this time, Simon formed a close friendship with the Guyanese archaeologist, anthropologist and novelist, Denis Williams, and in 1985 Williams invited Simon to work as his research assistant at the Walter Roth Museum of Anthropology. Simon worked with Williams until 1992, and it was during this time that he began his training in archaeology and anthropology, under the tutelage of Williams.

As part of his work at the Walter Roth Museum, Simon took part in numerous international anthropological expeditions in Guyana to various parts of Guyana. According to Simon, these expeditions made a profound impact on his life and art. In an interview with the art critic and historian, Anne Walmsley, Simon explained that prior to this period he knew very little of the different regions of Guyana, and had been "partially cut off from [his] people and that kind of life" due to the time that he had spent in England. It was his work with the Walter Roth Museum, therefore, that enabled him to explore his "Amerindianness" and to be "reunited with [his] people". Of all the journeys that Simon undertook during this time, the one that affected him most profoundly was an expedition to a Wai-Wai community in the village of Sheparyimo in southern Guyana, which was organised by the Museum of Puerto Rico, and led by Simon. The expedition stayed at Sheparyimo for a month, conducting anthropological work amongst the community. Some years later, Simon reflected: "This was my first experience of being in the Amazon and of being with the indigenous peoples of the Amazonas, from whom I could draw parallels with my own early life". Simon also used his time at Sheparyimo to work on a large number of sketches of Wai-Wai peoples, architecture and artifacts, which he would later develop in his Wai-Wai Series.

In August 1988 he founded a workshop in drawing and design at St Cuthbert's mission.

Travels in Chad, Haiti, Canada and France

In December 1998, Simon moved to Chad. He worked with the United States Embassy Public Affairs Department's Language Centre. Whilst in Chad, Simon worked with a group of artists from Chad to found the House of African Art. He also participated in a musical group called H'Sao and collaborated in a show organised by them in 1999. In 2001 Simon worked as the position of Artist in Residence at the Galerie Epices et Arts (Arts and Spices Gallery) in Lyon, France. The Gallery staged an exhibition of his work in December 2001. In 2002 Simon moved to Montreal in Canada. Whilst in Canada he organized a performance of Amerindian dancers and Musicians as part of a Guyana Festival that was held in May, 2002, to celebrate Guyanese Independence.

Guyana 2002-Present

In May 2012, Simon was awarded the Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Award for Excellence for his work as an artist and an archaeologist.

Art

Simon paints primarily in acrylics on canvas. He also uses gesso to create texture. Simon describes how he works using intuition and the sub-conscious.

Al Creighton describes Simon's work: "George Simon gets even more profound because of his interest in the spiritual and the Amerindian ethos. From his shamanistic tradition he produces large awesome canvasses which take advantage of colour, spectacle and haunting presences in scenes of hunting and the Arawak co-existence with the land and the water. Simon’s more recent stylistic preoccupations have been immersed in more pronounced relationships with water spirits and traditions in addition to more ancient Central and South American mythology. Furthermore Simon has led a number of other Amerindian artists into these depths. Notable among these is a group of Lokono sculptors including the exceptional Ossie Hussein who has seized leadership among Guyanese sculptors. His work startles with frightening images of Lokono spiritual manifestations all embedded in the forest. These artists are steeped in an ecosystem which is the cosmic realm of the Arawak in a spiritual oneness with the land."

Wilson Harris: 'I celebrate George Simon's arrival ... He possesses a sure touch, I find, inthe the veined tapestry, the evolving tapestry, of worlds he and his ancestors have known. A gifted painter to be cherished. It is good to know that a renascence is occurring in which Amerindian painters are involved."

Universal Woman

Universal Woman is one of Simon's most well-known artworks, and is displayed at the ***. The painting is a triptych depicting three water-goddesses from the three main cultures of Guyana: African, Indian and Amerindian. It shows the Mami-Wata of African and African-diasporic traditions; Ganga, the deity of the river Ganges and the Orehu of Amerindian mythologies. "Simon interweaves his portrait of Amerindian river spirit Oriyu with the anaconda from which she is said to have descended and other images of serpent energy and Amerindian lore." "The triptych is as majestic and powerful as the female deities that it studies".

Awards

• 1998 Golden Arrow of Achievement
• 2012 Anthony N. Sabga Caribbean Award for Excellence

References

• Article in Guyana Times on Simon's receipt of the Anthony N. Sabga Award

• Article in Stabroek News on Simon's receipt of the Anthony N. Sabga Award

• Article in Guardian on Simon's receipt of the Anthony N. Sabga Award

• Article in Kaieteur News on George Simon

• Article in Stabroek News on 'Universal Woman'

• Article on Anthony N. Sagba Award in The Guardian

• Article in GY times on Berbice Project

• Stabroek News Article on Berbice Project (Paywall)

• Article in SN with discussion of Simon's murals...

• Al Creighton on Simon in SN

• Discussion of Simon in article on Harris

• Link to NLW + GS article on Berbice Project

• Link to NLW article on Berbice

• Archive of 2002 interview with Creighton

• SN article on POP mural

• Al Creighton on Arts and Environment

• Interview with Anne Walmsley

External links

• Video Biography of Simon produced for the ANSA Awards 2012
• Video interview with George Simon