| Ryan Obermeyer | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 13, 1981 |
| Origin | Dallas, Texas |
| Occupations | Artist - Photographer, Painter, Graphic Designer |
| Website | http://www.ryanobermeyer.com/ |
Ryan Obermeyer (born February 13, 1981 in Dallas, Texas) is an internationally acclaimed American artist who works in photography, drawing, sculpting, and painting. He is most widely recognized for his surreal digital photographs that have often appeared on album packaging for recording artists, book jackets, and ad campaigns. Obermeyer practices a unique style of digital photography by collaging and "painting" parts of many of his photographs into one seamless amalgam. While most photographers are concerned with obtaining a perfect shot, Obermeyer is focused on post-production. By digitally cutting and manipulating even single strands of hair or folds in fabric, he is not capturing but creating. This process leads to a fluid classification of his work between photography and digital illustration. He is also an accomplished painter and sculptor. He draws freely from many influences including classic children's literature, mythology, biological processes, aquatic life, music, and film. Obermeyer's pieces display a precise attention to detail and an unrestrained affinity for fantasy and surrealism.
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Ryan was briefly mentored by a painter at the age of 14 in Dallas, TX. Obermeyer attended college for a year in Texas before relocating to New York City for a graphic design internship in 1999. Despite the absence of formal training, Obermeyer quickly rose from office intern to contributor, single-handedly undertaking major illustration projects for clients that included The Juilliard School and The Glaucoma Foundation. Obermeyer left the internship after a year and established the graphic design firm ON Company with partner Eric Neuner. Obermeyer was responsible for designing and executing illustrations, imagery, and photographs for their design pieces. They quickly achieved commercial success and received critical acclaim from the New York Times for "excellence in design" for their work with World Monuments Fund before Obermeyer celebrated his 20th birthday.[1] Despite the accolades for their commercial design, he remained devoted to his artistic works. Many of ON Company's clients were directly affected by the unfortunate events of September 11 and the firm was forced to disband in 2002. Obermeyer returned to Texas to focus on his personal artistic endeavors. He currently resides in Austin, TX.
While still living in Manhattan, Obermeyer attended a concert featuring the cello rock band Rasputina. A friendship with the singer Melora Creager, founded on aesthetic similarities, was quickly forged. Obermeyer created his first commissioned digital piece, Lost & Found, for the imminent Rasputina CD release of the same name (2001). He was the youngest artist to be extended a coveted inclusion at the 44th Annual Society of Illustrators Exhibition in New York with this piece. Obermeyer has since created numerous pieces for the band and has accompanied them on several unconventional American tours, selling books of his art while contributing backup vocals from the merchandise area. He conceived artwork for several of their subsequent releases including Cabin Fever (2002), My Fever Broke (2002), and Frustration Plantation (2004).
While continuing his longstanding dedication to visualizing the aural projects of musicians, he has also been acquired to realize several novelists' written works with imagery for book jackets and illustrations. His literary collaborations include several images for novels by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Catherine Fisher.
In 2005 he was appealed by Greenpeace Italia to create a special piece for a collective ad campaign (Whaleless) to promote the Save the Whales cause.
In 2006 Obermeyer was invited to be a contributor to the spoken-word film, Phone Sex from director Steve Balderson featuring phone message descriptions left by Ryan Obermeyer, Ron Jeremy, Margaret Cho, Edie McClurg, and many others.
His most recent collaborations include recording artists Milosh, Back Ted N-Ted, KaiserCartel, and Imogen Heap -previously of the band Frou Frou- producing several images to promote her solo album, Speak for Yourself, including cover art for an exclusive Live Session (iTunes Exclusive EP), her single Goodnight and Go, and her single Headlock (song).
Obermeyer received a citation from The New York Times in 2000 for "Excellence in Design." In 2005 he was a winner in the Adobe Photoworkshop Digital Imaging Contest. The Hearst Corporation 8 X 10 International Photography Biennial Competition selected him as a winner for 2011.
His work has been featured throughout the United States and Europe. He has exhibited at the 44th Annual Society of Illustrators, NY (2002); Aurora Gallery, TX (2006); The Irving Art Association Galleries, TX (2007); The Strychnine Gallery London, UK (2008); The Strychnine Gallery Berlin, DE (2009); Whaleless exhibition at Acquario Civico de Milan, Italy (2010); ArtErotica Exhibition of Austin, TX (2010); Museum of Modern Photography, CA (2010); The Art of Skateboarding Exhibition South Side on Lamar, TX (2010) and the Alexey Brodovitch Gallery and Hearst Foundation Gallery at The Hearst Tower (New York City), NY (2011). His work is also in many prominent private collections.