Simon of New Orleans

Simon Hardeveld was born in Cannes, France, in 1951.[3] His mother was French and his father was Dutch.[4] 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 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 work. The owner of the antique shop he worked at would let him showcase his work there. Simon has not had any art training.[5]

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.[6] 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".[7] 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, Ike and Lily.

Hand-painted signs have always been a part of New Orleans culture. They cost very little and they are durable.[8] It is a dying market but it has become increasingly competitive. For nearly twenty years Simon and another artist have been arguing about copyright issues. The styles of Simon and the other artist are both considered iconic to the city. In 2016, at a festival in Midcity a sculpture of Simon was put up with him holding a sign that reads "Simon says: Buy the REAL Thing, Buy Dr. Bob Art”.[9] Both sign-makers use the phrase "Be Nice or Leave" in their artworks. Simon claims he doesn't take credit for any of the slogans he uses and the other artist claims Simon is imitating his work.[10]