A look into the creative and whimsical worlds of Simon Vargas
A look into the creative and whimsical worlds of Simon Vargas
Simon works on a hand painted oil on cement work in an enormous cabaret club in Brickell, Miami
Simon is a full fledged mural artist and has been brightening and beautifying spaces for the last decade. His projects have been well rounded and extremely well received. From a variety of hotel and hospitality projects, to walls and panels for private homes around the US, Europe and Latin America. Simon has done hyper realistic jungle scenes, chinoiserie inspired motifs, and mixed media murals that involve a collage like approach in addition to hand painted elements. Some locations included on this page include projects in New York City, Miami, Madrid, and Bogota.
Simon’s intricate Chinoiserie Toucan Bar in Miami Florida.
An enormous hand painted jungle scene surrounds the booth seating in this restaurant
El Tucan was a massive endeavor involving huge unique spaces. The famous cabaret lounge and club did a complete gut renovation project in 2019 and Simon was at the helm of the mural and art component. He spent many months in the cavernous space creating unique murals for the entrance, restaurant, bar and lounge spaces.
A neon sign adds a pop to Simon’s eye catching cheetah wall.
Carmen herself lures diners from the upstairs down to her playground
A close up on the Carmen Mural.
One of Simon’s first mural projects in New York City was in the trendy and delicious Her Name Was Carmen” restaurant and cocktail club. The golden walls and the lush tropical scenes were inspired by a hand cut collage simon worked on leading up to the mural. The pineapple headed Carmen lures well heeled diners from the upstairs restaurant down to her world of debauchery and excitement below.
Simon pictured during the creation of the mural
Simon was commissioned to create several large scale murals for the new outpost of the Life House Hotel brand in Little Havana Miami. This project spanned a number of months leading up to Art Basel 2021. The mixed media and hand painted murals showcase the colors, flora, and fauna of the historic neighborhood. The murals can be seen when descending or ascending the staircase to the fabulous Terras rooftop bar and lounge. This particular mural project was significant as it utilized both enlarged printed elements and hand painted ones creating a collage like approach that simon has always wanted to experiment with.
