Simon of New Orleans is a French-born artist who first moved to Florida in the late 1980s. He then moved to
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
and became known for his painted bright and colorful signs which can include distinguishing lettering, various animals, and slogans that include an assortment of French, English, and local
New Orleans
New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
dialect. His style is often considered folk art or Haitian. He uses the term "deja vu art" to describe his work. His shop today resides in New Orleans on Magazine Street.
Biography
Simon Hardeveld was born in
Cannes
Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...
, France, in 1951. His mother was French and his father was Dutch. Simon first started working as a chef in France. When he found this to be unsuccessful, he moved to Florida in 1981 to look for work. He met his wife Maria and they ran three different restaurants together. In 1994, he visited New Orleans for
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras (, ) refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany (Three Kings Day) and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. is French for "Fat ...
and ended up making it his permanent home. He attempted to find cooking jobs there, but again had little success. He then found a job at a shop called Bush Antiques where he would repair French furniture. There he would take scrap wood and paint signs of food he was cooking at the time. He would place them in the restaurant he worked at in Metairie. People came to drink beer and would want to buy the signs Simon was making. Once he realized he could make money from his signs, he immediately stopped his
culinary
Culinary arts are the cuisine arts of outline of food preparation, food preparation, cooking and food presentation, presentation of food, usually in the form of meals. People working in this field – especially in establishments such as res ...
work. The owner of the antique shop he worked at would let him showcase his work there. Simon has not had any art training.
In 2010, a local New Orleans TV station commissioned Simon to design the set of one of their evening pieces after the vice president of the station ate at a restaurant that displays Simon's work. He considers that as his claim to fame. Simon has also completed a multitude of other commercial signage for the businesses around him. His operation is low-tech, he doesn't use computers or emails, but even with this his signs are found everywhere in the city and almost instantly recognized. On August 20, 2016 he got a book published about his life and art called "Simon of New Orleans". He draws inspiration from people he meets in New Orleans. It's not uncommon for him to dig through trash for objects to use in his art. He spends his days now, still in New Orleans, making signs and with his wife and two
bulldogs
The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is of medium size, a muscular, hefty dog with a wrinkled face and a distinctive pushed-in nose.