About Simon Zekaria Art

Simon Zekaria is an award-winning British artist based in London in the United Kingdom, painting both 'en plein air' - or outside on location - and from a studio to produce original fine art in oil.

He is drawn to the school of impressionism in his artwork; using broken color and painterly, textured brushstrokes to capture light and shadow. His aim is to spontaneously render the feel and atmosphere of a place or subject, at a certain moment of time, through impressionist art.

In terms his art education and learning, Simon studied life drawing and landscape painting at art institutions and academies in London, including Camden Art Centre in Hampstead and Hampstead School of Art, in addition to self-taught studies.

In 2022, Simon studied plein air street and landscape painting on location in Montelparo, Italy under the tutorship of award-winning British artist Jennifer Aitken, Member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists.

In 2023, Simon studied plein air landscape painting in Scotland under the tutorship of Susanna MacInnes, winner of Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2023, Heat 2.

In 2024, Simon studied portraiture in oil at Dulwich Art School in London under the tutorship of Alex Tzavaras.

Simon is a member of the London Plein Air Painters – a group of artists - and Highgate Contemporary Art, as well as a friend of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Simon's works are in collections around the world, including the UK and Norway.

AWARDS

Painting prize awarded by the Hampstead School of Art (HSOA) 2024

Awarded 'Honorable Mention' by US PleinAir Salon of PleinAir Magazine 2024

Winner of the Principal’s Art Prize, awarded by the Hampstead School of Art (HSOA) 2023

Commendation awarded by the Royal Institute of Oil Painters (ROI), Paint Live Plein Air Competition 2022

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

Green & Stone Gallery Summer Exhibition 2024

Chelsea Art Society Summer Exhibition 2024

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"My enjoyment of painting is the process as much as the end result. It is about finding the subject and letting it emerge. I enjoy the surface created, the brushwork and the differences between lean and fat paint. I want the painting to read from a distance as reality, but close up to be a series of painterly marks. I like to work with a limited palette, adding a few bright lights for emphasis" 

Simon Zekaria