Peace Simon, painting “Beyond The Garden”
A masterpiece that transcends time, memory, and meaning—Beyond the Garden unfolds from canvas to film to runway as a philosophical reflection on creation, contribution and legacy; a decade of dreams distilled into a vision where art, history, and emotion converge in a work collectors are beginning to recognize as truly historic.
Beyond the Garden: A Love Letter to New York, Written in Color by One of the Best Artists in America—Peace Simon
From showcasing his works at some of the most prestigious institutions in New York City—including the United Nations Headquarters—to being recognized by the State of New York for his contribution to the city’s cultural landscape, Peace Simon has quietly, yet powerfully, carved a space that extends beyond the traditional art world. Featured in a short film by visionary filmmaker Spike Lee and his work connected to some of the most influential names on the planet, Simon is what many are now saying without hesitation, one of the best artists in America today.
His latest large-scale painting, Beyond the Garden, makes that truth impossible to ignore—yet what it reveals goes far deeper than recognition.
At first glance, the work feels electric, almost celestial. At its center stands the iconic Madison Square Garden, glowing like a living heart beneath a sky that refuses to be contained—deep violets dissolving into electric blues, burning reds stretching into infinity. The skyline of New York City is no longer just architecture; it is breath, movement, memory. And there, radiating from the core, a simple yet eternal message: “We ❤️ New York.”
But this is not a painting you simply look at.
It is a painting you enter.
It is autobiographical. It is a journey.
Simon remembers the beginning like it was yesterday—a call in 2020 from a senior executive at Madison Square Garden, asking for a monumental piece for a new office. He began immediately. Then the world paused. COVID-19 silenced the city that never sleeps. But Simon kept painting. What began as a commission transformed into something far greater: a living document of time, emotion, and human spirit.
In that stillness, his vision expanded.
The Garden became more than a place—it became a metaphor for creation itself. What happens inside the garden. What unfolds beyond it. A philosophy. A question. A mirror. This vision extended into a short film, “ I Was Here”, where Simon translated a decade of his life in New York into motion, memory, and legacy. Peace Simon said he wanted to leave something behind to say “ I was here” in case he didn’t survive the pandemic.
And the story did not stop there.
Fragments of the painting became fabric—literally woven into a fashion collection carrying the same name, I Was Here, for DRIIVIIN unveiled during New York Fashion Week on the widely recognized Runway 7 Fashion stage. The canvas moved. The story walked. The art lived beyond its frame.
Every corner of Beyond the Garden breathes with intention.
In DUMBO, a man seated on a rock plays guitar, serenading a woman is a scene from of his past film project he has done during his decade long in New York. He merges the Brooklyn Bridge with one of the most famous sunset holding the moment in quiet suspension. In midtown, a woman walks her dog through the rhythm of the city.In downtown A family, hand in hand, moves away from the viewer—toward the towering presence of One World Trade Center—a silent gesture toward freedom, legacy, and what lies ahead.
Nothing is accidental.
Stop signs are rewritten into affirmations—Infinite, Keep Going. Billboards whisper layered messages. A Fibonacci spiral emerges, echoing the sacred geometry of life itself. Even time bends with meaning: the clock rests at 4:32, a quiet nod to 432 Hz—a frequency believed to harmonize, to heal, to return us to something natural, something whole.
And then, history is etched into motion.
“Peace Simon 2020” appears on the top of a passing yellow cab evoking the election year accompanied by a raised fist on its side—an echo of protest, of awakening, of voices refusing to stay silent that year. The streets, unusually empty, carry the haunting stillness of a city paused—an image almost unimaginable to one who has always known New York as a place overflowing with souls.
Yet within that emptiness, a message rises:
Follow your art.
For Simon, this piece is not just documentation—it is reflection. The pandemic, in all its weight, created space. Space to pause. To feel. To realign. By compressing the entirety of New York City—from DUMBO to SoHo, Midtown to Downtown, East to West—into a single visual field, he captures something beyond geography.
He captures memory.
He captures becoming.
From a childhood dream of living in New York to the reality of calling it home, every brushstroke carries lived experience. The people, the places, the fleeting and the eternal—they merge into a single, breathing narrative.
“This piece was very intentional,” Simon says. “Every creation reveals the character of the creator.”
And at the very center of it all lies a symbol that transcends the city itself: the “We ❤️ New York” emblem, where the heart is formed by a reimagined world map—a quiet yet powerful declaration that love is the force that binds us, across borders, across time, across everything.
This is why collectors are no longer just observing—they are moving.
Because this is not simply art.
It is a page of history.
A memory.
A frequency.
A legacy in motion.
And for those who feel it—truly feel it—Beyond the Garden is not just a painting to admire.
It is something to live with. An iconic image that stand the test of time
Museum quality work that will tell a story for generations to come.
Something to hold—before the world fully understands what it is looking at.
Watch the Collection
Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zVBjCQenA
Runway Show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8IDO0bQpJM&t=44s
About DRIIVIIN
Founded by Peace Simon, DRIIVIIN is a cultural luxury fashion brand that uses art and storytelling to inspire individuals to pursue their purpose and contribute to a greater collective narrative. The brand believes that fashion is more than style—it is a platform for expression, identity, and impact.
Website: https://www.driiviin.us/
Contact: Claudia – driiviin@gmail.com