SIMON WEIR
Simon Weir is a contemporary painter whose work explores how objects think, feel, and act within images.
Working within and beyond the legacy of Surrealism, his paintings treat objects not as symbols or metaphors, but as active agents that shape perception, emotion, and belief. Everyday things—eggs, furniture, clouds, architectural fragments—are rendered with meticulous clarity, yet arranged into scenes that resist narrative resolution.
Weir’s practice is informed by philosophy, architectural theory, and the history of Surrealism, particularly its concern with the unconscious and the limits of rational vision. Rather than illustrating ideas, his paintings function as ontographic devices: images that stage encounters between objects, qualities, and viewers, allowing meaning to emerge slowly and indirectly.
Executed in fine oil painting, his works cultivate a calm, lucid atmosphere in which strangeness appears precise rather than theatrical. The result is a form of contemporary Surrealism that is neither nostalgic nor ironic, but committed to the image as a site of serious thought.
Weir lives and works in Sydney.
Artist Statement: The Architecture of Affect
My work operates at the intersection of architectural theory, Surrealism, and affective neuroscience. It is an investigation into the "vital constants" through which we encounter reality—sexual instinct, death, and the enigma of space—reimagined for a new era of human sensitivity.
Beyond the Dream-Image
Surrealism is often misunderstood as the mere production of irrational imagery. I treat it as a project of affective discovery. Following André Breton’s call for "new sentiments" and René Magritte’s rejection of "obligatory sentiments," my practice seeks to bypass culturally inherited emotional categories. I am interested in the biological "hidden architecture" of human life: the primary emotional systems—seeking, play, fear, lust, and grief—that underpin our existence before language ever takes hold.
Engineering New Sensitivity
However, my research and art go further. I do not merely seek to reveal existing emotions; I seek to “produce emotions that have not yet been perceived by humans.
By utilising surrealist methods I create visual configurations that have no evolutionary or cultural precedent. These images act as affective prototypes: experimental devices designed to trigger "hybrid affects" and emergent neural states.
The Spatial Enigma.
Architecture is the primary medium of this experiment. In my work, the "enigma of space" is not just a formal concern but a neurological trigger. By distorting perspective and reimagining the boundaries of the maritime and built environments—from the bays of Cadaqués to the geometries of Gaudí—I aim t
For Curators
Simon Weir’s practice is concerned with how images think—specifically, how objects within images generate meaning independently of narrative or symbolism. Working through painting, he treats the image as a testing ground for perception: a place where objects, qualities, and spatial relations can be arranged to produce effects that are emotional, philosophical, and experiential rather than illustrative.
His work is situated within the legacy of Surrealism, but approaches it as an ongoing method rather than a historical style. The paintings resist irony and nostalgia, favouring clarity, slowness, and precision. This allows exhibitions to operate not as spectacles, but as sustained encounters with images that unfold over time.
Weir’s work is well suited to exhibitions concerned with contemporary surrealism, objecthood, ontology, architecture, and the afterlives of modernism. His practice can anchor solo presentations or function as a conceptual hinge within group exhibitions that examine perception, the unconscious, and the status of images today.
For Collectors
These paintings are made to be lived with slowly. At first glance, they appear calm, lucid, and carefully composed. Over time, their strangeness deepens rather than resolves. Objects seem familiar yet slightly displaced, as if they are quietly insisting on their own inner life.
Weir’s work does not rely on shock or overt symbolism. Instead, it rewards sustained attention, revealing subtle shifts in mood, meaning, and association the longer one spends with it. The images resist being “used up” by quick interpretation, which allows them to remain compelling over many years.
Painted in oil with a high level of finish and care, the works are materially traditional while conceptually contemporary. They sit comfortably within domestic or institutional spaces, offering a sense of calm that coexists with a persistent, thoughtful unease—an atmosphere that continues to give something back to the viewer.
For Researchers / Writers
Weir’s practice intersects with Surrealist theory, philosophical ontology, and architectural thinking, particularly questions around objecthood, perception, and the limits of rational vision. His paintings can be understood as ontographic: images that stage relationships between objects and qualities without subordinating them to narrative or metaphor.
Rather than illustrating theory, the work operates alongside it. Influences include Surrealist approaches to the unconscious, philosophical accounts of objects and qualities, and architectural modes of spatial reasoning. The paintings propose images as sites of thought—places where meaning emerges through encounter rather than explanation.
This positioning allows the work to be discussed across disciplines, including art history, philosophy, architectural theory, and aesthetics, while remaining grounded in the material and historical practice of painting.
Academic and Institutional Affiliations
In addition to his painting practice, Simon Weir is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney’s School of Architecture, Design & Planning. His academic role and public lectures complement his artistic work, offering collectors and institutions a deeper engagement with the philosophical and surrealist themes in his paintings. He is also a member of the International Society for the Study of Surrealism and serves on the editorial collective of the International Journal of Surrealism.
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The views expressed on this site do not reflect those of the University of Sydney
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SIMON WEIR :
artist, designer, writer, speaker.