Simon Andrew: City of the Surveilled

Simon Andrew presents City of the Surveilled, a dynamic new series of paintings that explore themes of community surveillance and the commodification of personal data. These lush abstractions are inspired by glitched street views sourced from Google, where the fragmented images serve as a metaphor for reclaiming power for his community. By becoming the “watcher” of the “watchers,” Andrew examines the dynamics of surveillance capitalism—a term referring to the commodification of personal thoughts and behaviours. This system has enabled some of the world’s wealthiest companies, such as social media platforms, search engines, and apps, to accumulate and profit from vast personal data and insights.

In City of the Surveilled, Andrew reflects on the absurdity of our current relationship with these powerful corporations, which often know more about us than we do about them.

When painting, Andrew emphasizes colour relationships, compositional structures, and the physicality of paint. He views the subject matter as a framework on which to "hang his paint." Striving to create works that operate on both macro and micro levels, Andrew infuses his paintings with diverse and experimental colour passages, along with unexpected compositions. Each piece undergoes a distillation process, often charged with emotion sparked by a specific event or place, ultimately aiming to reconstruct an authentic experience.

Simon Andrew was born in Portsmouth, spent his formative years in Penwith, Cornwall, studied science at Queen's University, Canada and fine art at Newcastle University where he received his MFA. He has received arts council grants and is represented in major corporate collections, including Glaxo Wellcome, Hewlett Packard, and Fidelity Investments. Andrew has produced art for the artistic ventures of Mel Gibson and The Tragically Hip. He has had numerous solo shows at galleries both public and commercial at home and abroad. Currently Simon works in Canada and England.

The artist wishes to  thank the following for their steadfast assistance in this lengthly project: Macomb Santyr, Patricia Olson, Derek Cooper