Simon Bayliss: Arcadia

During a summer-long artist residency at Hestercombe, artist Simon Bayliss has responded to the gardens through painting en plein air and writing poetry. The resulting exhibition presents his idiosyncratic vision of Hestercombe as a pastoral utopia, accelerated using wit and fast-paced imagery.

During his time at Hestercombe, Bayliss produced daily watercolours of views within the gardens. Many of these were made from the follies, designed by Coplestone Bampfylde as picturesque viewpoints inspired by Arcadian landscape paintings. Bayliss first came across the notion of Arcadia, not from landscape painting however, but gay literature, an idea historically described in books, such as ‘Brideshead Revisited’, as an Eden for affectionate men away from the scrutiny of society. Over the years Bayliss has worked in gardens, a garden centre and an organic smallholding, so it seemed natural to explore the refrain ‘queering the garden’ at Hestercombe. Bayliss’ erotic tea towel, for example, features the phrase ‘Paradise Haunts’, which comes from Derek Jarman’s remark ‘Paradise haunts gardens’.

Bayliss was selected as the second artist in residence, in an on going series of residencies at Hestercombe offered to artists working in the South West. During his time here he has also developed an ‘Arcadia Workshop’, which will take place in spring, gathering creative practitioners in the fields of art, writing and garden design to explore landscape themes. Bayliss is also currently co-writing a play with poet Damon Moore, based on the Gertrude Jeykll garden at Hestercombe.

About Simon Bayliss

Bayliss studied at Falmouth College of Art and Burren College of Art, Ireland. Recent projects include ‘Landscape Painters Anonymous’, a performative lecture, CAST, Helston, and ‘A Coastal Climax’ a poem commissioned for ‘The Wise Wound’, a night of music and performance curated by artist Lucy Stein with Tate St Ives. Under his alias swimonbaybliss, Bayliss also produces the biweekly radio show ‘Squirming the Worm’, hosted by Coco de Moll (Lucy Stein), on NTS. With Stein, he also co-curated the painting-centric group exhibitions ‘SS Blue Jacket’ at KARST, Plymouth, and ‘The White Hotel’, Gimpel Fils, London. Bayliss is currently a student on The Syllabus, a yearlong experimental education programme convened by Wysing Art Center in partnership with Eastside Projects, New Contemporaries, S1 Artspace, Spike Island and Studio Voltaire.