George Simon (artist and archaeologist)
| George Simon | |
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| Born |
23 April 1947 St. Cuthbert's Mission, British Guiana (now Guyana) |
| Nationality | Guyanese |
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| Known for | His paintings, the Berbice Archaeology Project, founding the Lokono Artists Group |
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George Simon (born 23 April 1947) is a Lokono Arawak artist and archaeologist from Guyana. He is the founder and mentor of the Lokono Artists Group, a group of Lokono artists from Guyana, based primarily in Simon's hometown of St. Cuthbert's Mission. Simon is 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 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 an archaeologist.
George Simon was born on 23 April 1947 to Olive and Mark Simon in St. Cuthbert's Mission on the Mahaicony 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. 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.
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 in fine art, with a special focus on art history and 19th-century art. He graduated with honours in 1978.
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