Simon Bejer: And Everything Under the Sun
15 September - 1 October 2026, Tomasso London
The Sunderland Collection is delighted to announce the third edition of its acclaimed Art Programme, culminating in a new body of work responding to the Collection by Australian artist Simon Bejer.
And Everything Under the Sun will be on display at Tomasso in London from 15 September to 1 October 2026. A parallel online exhibition will launch here on Oculi Mundi.
The Sunderland Collection Art Programme is curated by contemporary art expert Beth Greenacre.
You Are Here (2026). Diptych, oil on birch wood, each panel 160x90cm. ©Simon Bejer/The Sunderland Collection
In his body of work for the Art Programme, Simon has painted in oil on birch-wood boards, made drawings, and created mixed-media sculptures.
He draws inspiration from Renaissance cosmologies, classical mythology, and the ornate aesthetics of antique celestial maps and sea charts to construct expansive, fantastical vistas.
A single scene can bring together modern infrastructure, sea monsters, crumbling temples, classical iconography, and self-portraits - such as in the diptych You Are Here, shown above.
Volvelle used to track Sundays from Astronomicum Caesareum (1540) by Petrus Apianus
Four Elements, Fire (2026). Oil on birch wood, 105x69cm. ©Simon Bejer/The Sunderland Collection
It is my hope that the universe I have created within this exhibition, in response to the multifarious worlds contained within The Sunderland Collection, is a place of surprise, of mystery, and of wonder. I hope that the visitor to this realm, stumbling upon a tell-tale detail, a recognisable form, a repeated motif, may make connections that together evoke a sense of being in a layered world.
Our world is still very much a whirlpool of myth and history, of continually advancing and receding technologies, of information and counter-information - a world scarred by hubris and folly, but also etched by hope and the noble intentions of fallible creatures.
- Simon Bejer
Double-hemisphere world map Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula (c1660) by Frederick de Wit ©The Sunderland Collection
Simon’s paintings adopt an elevated, quasi-cartographic perspective, allowing viewers to survey an expansive world filled with layered narratives and unexpected juxtapositions. His works unfold as both map and meditation, exploring themes of fate, discovery, and artistic identity.
Four Elements, Air, (2026). Oil on birch-wood, 105x69cm ©Simon Bejer/The Sunderland Collection
Quadrant illustration from Dell’Arcano del Mare (‘The Secrets of the Sea’) (1647) by Robert Dudley
In his response to The Sunderland Collection’s early maps, Simon consistently dissolves the boundaries between antiquity and modernity, the sacred and the mundane, the heroic and the absurd. A grand galleon meets a contemporary roadblock; traditional architecture is positioned within built up industrial sprawl; and divine deities loom over motorway junctions in a modern urban landscape.
A particular inspiration for Simon was the Astronomicum Caesareum, ‘The Emperor’s Astronomy’ (1540) by Petrus Apianus (1495-1552), famed for its rotating paper volvelles, or wheel instruments.
Echoes of these astronomical devices appear throughout the exhibition in the form of circular compositions and kinetic sculptures, reinforcing the sense that Simon’s works are not static images but living systems of movement, inquiry, and interpretation.
Solar System (2026). Painted ceramic and found objects, 190x100x40cm. ©Simon Bejer/The Sunderland Collection
Art and cartography have been implicated in transformations of the ways we represent and conceptualise our inner and outer worlds. Like early cartographers, Simon Bejer continues to explore the world, both the known and unknown; as an artist, he recognises art as part of the practice of dwelling in and on the earth.
Positioning himself within the paintings made in response to The Sunderland Collection, Simon reminds us of Caspar David Friedrich’s philosophical meditations on the imagined, the unseen and the unseeable.
The Silent Road (2026). Hand-coloured three-plate interactive relief print on Fabriano 100% cotton 300gsm, 48x32.5cm. Edition of 10 in two colour-ways. ©Simon Bejer/The Sunderland Collection
To accompany his unique works, Simon has created a stunning limited edition print with moving dials, inspired by etchings of landscapes and scientific instruments in the Collection.
The Silent Road is available in two colourways, in an edition of 10 each. Every print is individually hand-pressed using traditional methods on Fabriano paper by Plaintiff Press in London, and hand-coloured by the artist - and therefore every print is unique.
Available soon in the Oculi Mundi Shop.
Map of Bern in Switzerland from Cosmographia Universalis (1559) by Sebastian Münster
About Simon Bejer
Simon Bejer is an Australian artist based in Bordeaux. Working across painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking and installation, his practice explores the intersections of taste, beauty and the picturesque through play, wonder and absurdity.
Drawing on his background in fine art and stage design, Simon combines diverse visual languages, blurring the boundaries between history and modernity, refinement and kitsch, and nature and the human. Landscapes are central to his paintings, where they become sites for exploring change, loss and uncertainty, while his sculptures extend these themes through experimental material combinations and theatrical forms.
Simon graduated with an MFA from City & Guilds Art School, London, in 2022, and subsequently held the Decorative Surfaces Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Painter-Stainers (2022–23). His work has been exhibited internationally, including in the UK, Australia, the US, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, and is held in various private collections.
Night (2026) and Day (2026). Oil paint on birch wood, 55cm diameter each. Sold separately. ©Simon Bejer/The Sunderland Collection
To enquire about available works, please contact arts@sunderland-collection.com
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