Dear Editor,
These are sad times and it follows that I bring sad news of the passing of two well-known Guyanese artists who have exhibited with the Guyana United Artists (GUA), George Simon, and Osaze. George Simon passed away in Spain after a protracted illness and Osaze in Mahaica, ECD both on the 15th of July.
It was indeed shocking when I got the news in the late evening that I had a sleepless night wondering how this could be possible, we are such a small community not large, how can we afford to lose such giants in their own fields in such a short time?
George Simon was not only an Artist but also an Archeologist who had made some remarkable finds of Pre-Colombian life along the Berbice River that existed thousands of years ago. In 1997 he was the featured artist at the launching of the Guyana United Artists at the National Museum. He displayed over 40 paintings and drawings. He distinguished himself in the arts with local and international awards and was also awarded in 2017 and 2018 by the Guyana Cultural Association of New York for his Achievements.
As a friend, George had often encouraged me to visit him in Paraguay and to improve my painting abilities after the injury I sustained in 2016 that practically incapacitated me as a sculptor. A tremendous loss to the artist community, he was loved and appreciated by all, but to George death was not the end.
Osaze was both artist and political activist, a founding member of the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) and also the “Brigade”, the distribution unit of the WPA. He hailed from East Ruimveldt. Osaze spent over a decade in the struggle for free and fair elections. One of the several members of the brigade who died of poverty and neglect after the Election Victory of 1992. He was cheated most times in the sale of his artworks. In 2009 he exhibited with the GUA at the Brazilian Centre of Studies, Church Street, Queenstown. He was among the few artists at that time that used recycled materials to create installations.
In 2018 he had lost his vision in one eye and last year the other, this comes with the nature of the work. He could not afford private medical attention like so many of us, my mother also lost her sight in two unsuccessful surgeries at the Georgetown Public Hospital.
The GUA wishes to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of George Simon and Osaze, they have contributed to the Treasury of Guyana’s Arts and Tradition.
Yours faithfully,
Desmond Alli
(General Secretary Guyana United Artists GUA)
