Leading artist and anthropologist George Simon, dies

Jul 16, 2020 News

One of Guyana’s most renowned artists and anthropologists, George Simon died. Simon was known for his paintings that were notable for their depiction and explorations of Indigenous culture and the Guyanese environment.

George Simon

Relatives, friends and fans of Simon yesterday took to their social media pages and expressed their sadness of the passing of the talented artist, lecturer and

anthropologist.
Leader of the Liberty and Justice Party, Lennox Shuman, said in a Facebook post, “A son of Pakuri (St. Cuthbert), a son of this land, an Artist, an Archeologist, a member of my Arawak Band. Always so Jovial never so sad to know a role model of friends, students and admirers of whom many he had. A brother, father, friend to the arms of our ancestors where your journey ends Makanima will guide you till we meet again, safe travel. George Simon is one of the most renowned artists of Guyana and from my Pakuri. Many fine artists made their way through his life and work, my sincere condolences to his family both far and near.”
Head of the Amerindian People’s Association, Jean La Rose told Kaieteur News in an invited comment, “Where should I start? This is really sad, and a great loss to the nation. Mr. Simon was a great artist, a very talented one indeed. He was well known not only in Guyana but around the world, he was a friendly person, always easy to talk to and he will be truly missed.”
Summary of George Simon’s life
George was born on April 23, 1947, at St Cuthbert’s, located up the Mahaica River. His parents, now deceased, were Olive and Mark Simon. His father was a wood cutter, harvesting logs for sale. His mother a housewife.

Some of Simon’s work

He attended primary school in the village, but at age 12 he was adopted by an English Anglican priest named James William Pink, who was at the time serving the Mahaica River churches. When the priest was re-assigned to serve the Upper Demerara river parishes, he took Simon with him to the mining town of Linden.
Because of the racial violence which gripped the town in the early ‘60s, the priest was re-assigned to the St George’s Cathedral in the capital Georgetown and took Simon with him.
He was enrolled at Christ Church High School, where he pursued studies in English, Mathematics, Geography, Hygiene and Physiology.
Art was on the curriculum, but there were no teachers. George decided he would take the exam for art anyhow, rummaging through as many art books as were relevant. His concentration was charcoal drawings. He passed the exam.
From 1970, he worked for Sandbach Parker Shipping Company in Georgetown as a Discrepancy Clerk, and thereafter moved to Essex, London, when his foster father retired from the Anglican Diocese and moved back to England.
In 1972, he enrolled at Grey’s Technical College in Thurrock, Essex, to do the Advanced Level examination in Art, namely Print Making and Advanced Art, with a focus on Painting and Drawing. He later read for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Fine Art at the University of Portsmouth and graduated with Honours in 1978. His studies focused on Art History and 19th Century Art.
George’s earliest output as a painter, in the mid-1980’s in Guyana, directly reflected his heritage in depictions of Amerindians in traditional costume and activities, followed soon after by a second phase which, less pictorial but still representational, again recorded elements of Amerindian life.
His travels to England for visits and for study in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and subsequent time spent in Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, notably Haiti, from the late 1990s, resulted in a shift in content and technique in his work.
Yet, just as in his physical travels he often returned to Guyana and to his native village of St. Cuthbert’s, so he always referred closely to his own Amerindian culture as a central and defining element in his work.

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