Simon J. Harris: The Weight of a Cloud

Join Dr Simon J. Harris, Ikon’s Artist in Residence at HMP Grendon, and James Latunji-Cockbill, Producer of the Art in Prisons programme, for an artist talk exploring the two-year residency at the Category B psychotherapeutic prison. Harris shares a new publication, The Weight of a Cloud, and will reflect on developing his practice in the prison art studio and working collaboratively with prisoners.

The Weight of a Cloud is published by Ikon. Book design and production by Joseph Lilley, Ersatz Editions, and is supported by the University of Wolverhampton. Available to pre-order from Ikon Shop.

Art at HMP Grendon is funded by the Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust.

About the artist 

Simon J. Harris is an artist whose practice is rooted in painting while extending across printmaking, photography and moving image. His work is deeply informed by the visual and philosophical language of cinema, creating painterly surfaces that are glossy and luminous, evoking the materiality of celluloid film. Through this cinematic sensibility, Harris creates images of heightened visual intensity that oscillate between the figural and the abstract.

Harris gained his PhD in 2015 from the University of Wolverhampton with a thesis titled Deleuze and Painting: Rethinking the Formal. This research continues to underpin his artistic practice, shaping his investigation into painting as a dynamic and conceptual field. His recent projects include participation in Start the Press! (2024) and Waiting ’til Next Year for Another Year (2025) with Ikon. Harris is currently a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for Fine Art at the University of Wolverhampton.