George Simon (23 April 1947 – 15 July 2020) was a Guyanese Lokono Arawak artist and archaeologist. He was the founder and mentor of the Lokono Artists Group, a group of Lokono artists from Guyana, based primarily in his hometown of St. Cuthbert's Mission. Simon was widely regarded as one of the leading Guyanese artists of his generation, and his paintings (acrylic on canvas, paper or twill fabric) are notable for their explorations of Amerindian culture and the Guyanese environment. He was also recognized for his achievements as an educator, his efforts to develop opportunities for Amerindian artists in Guyana, and for his work as an archaeologist.
Life
Early years
George Simon was born on 23 April 1947 to Olive and Mark Simon in St. Cuthbert's Mission on the Mahaica River in British Guiana (now 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. Discussing his early years in an interview from 1994/5, Simon recalled the way in which the Mission school stifled expressions of Amerindian culture: "Anyone found speaking Arawak in class was flogged [...] In general, Amerindian culture was discouraged and we were made to feel inferior".
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. Simon 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 Grays, Essex. In 1975, he enrolled at the University of Portsmouth, where he studied for a BA degree in fine art, with a special focus on art history and 19th-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 at the Walter Roth Museum 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 anthropological expeditions to various parts of Guyana. These expeditions had a profound impact on his life and his artistic development. Shortly after joining the Walter Roth Museum, he was asked to lead an expedition to a Wai-Wai community in the south of Guyana. The expedition stayed at the Wai-Wai village of Sheparyimo for a month, conducting anthropological work among the community. Simon produced a number of sketches of Wai-Wai peoples, architecture and artifacts during his visit to Sheparyimo, and his experiences there provided the inspiration for a collection of paintings entitled the Wai-Wai Series. Many of the expeditions in which he took part involved journeys on the Essequibo River, and his fascination with that river resulted in his Essequibo Series.
Speaking of his experience in Sheparyimo some years later in an interview with the art critic and historian Anne Walmsley, 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". He also spoke more generally of the way in which all of the expeditions in which he took part transformed his perspective and particularly his relationship to Amerindian culture in Guyana. He explained that prior to this period he had traveled very little in Guyana, and had felt "partially cut off from [his] people and that kind of life" due to the time that he had spent in England. His work at the Walter Roth Museum, therefore, enabled him to be "reunited with [his] people" and to explore his "Amerindianness".