Biography Simon Heijdens
(b.1978 Breda, The Netherlands)


Simon Heijdens reinterprets natural processes with unique technologies and embeds these in man-made surroundings, to create mechanisms that reveal the hidden essence of a place.

Artworks that continuously transform and evolve in response to their surroundings, affected by meteorological conditions such as sunlight and wind, and human interaction. While technically complex, his installations are understated and poetic in appearance, gracefully balancing between the visible and the visible, and seamlessly integrated into their environment. They evolve almost organically into a new kind of nature within urban settings, questioning the importance of locality, nature and coincidence in an increasingly organized and urbanising world.

His works are part of the permanent collections of museums such as MoMA New York, the Art Institute Chicago, Boijmans van Beuningen Museum Rotterdam and V&A London, and shown at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Haus der Kunst Munich and Garage Museum of Contemporary Art Moscow, among others.

Large scale commissions include Shade for the Art Institute Chicago (2010) and the opening commission of the V&A London’s Sainsbury Gallery (2014), Silent Room (2016) for SXSW Texas, the Perrier Jouet commission for Art Basel / Design Miami, and the Museum cafe for the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum Rotterdam (2008).

'Lightweeds' (2004, ongoing), a projected living digital ecosystem responsive to actual meteorological conditions, has been exhibited in over 60 locations throughout Europe, US, the Middle East and Asia, and celebrated its 10th anniversary with a year-long exhibition at the permanent collection galleries of MoMA New York and large scale site-specific versions of the work commissioned to officially represent the State visits of the King and Queen of the Netherlands to the US (2015) and the UK (2018).


Originally founded in Rotterdam in 2002, Heijdens’ studio has been based in London since 2005 where he lectured at the Royal College of Art between 2005 and 2010. Simon Heijdens is represented by Superblue since 2020.

simonheijdens.com