BEYOND EDEN 2013 | 'BIRD'S EYE VIEW'

‘Bird’s Eye View’
Curated by Birdman and presented by Thinkspace

Birdman is the alter ego of Bryan Mier, a 25-year-old Los Angeles native photographer specializing in documenting urban art. A classically trained guitarist, Birdman originally set out to work on the business side of the music industry. Things changed when he picked up a camera and started taking pictures of street art and graffiti he stumbled upon in Los Angeles and Italy.

Initially, Birdman started snapping photos around the city at night as a hobby. Realizing there was a lack of coverage of LA’s street art, he utilized Flikr and social media sites to share his images. His work quickly gained recognition from the art community. Before he knew it he was asked to serve as a correspondent for several magazines, gallery owners sought him out to cover their artists, he was even flown out to document artist’s murals and attend art fairs. What sets Birdman’s work apart from similar photographers is his emphasis in the artist and commitment to his craft. He establishes relationships with his subjects and puts in the time to ensure he gets the best shots, often seeing the entire process of a mural from start to finish. By allowing the artists to open up to him he captures their personality in his shots-a quality that is lacking in other’s coverage. Due to the temporary nature of street art, Birdman has preserved the artist’s work while adding his own artistic touches. A music enthusiast at heart, Birdman relates art styles to music and brings this unique perspective to his photographs.

Birdman’s work has been published in Juxtapoz, Very Nearly Almost, Graffiti Art Magazine, American Art Collector, Bliss, and LA CANVAS. As well as in books such as LA Taco 2011, Cryptik: Eastern Philosophies and Shark Toof. He has contributed to 12oz Prophet, Warholian, Street Art News, Brooklyn Street Art, Hi-Fructose and currently is Mass Appeal’s West Coast correspondent. His work has been in numerous exhibitions including: “Wish You Were Here” (solo show, Los Angeles), “LA CANVAS: 80//20″ (group show, Los Angeles), “LA is Paradise” (group show, Los Angeles), “Sidewayz” (group show Sydney, Australia ), “Everyday Fantasia” (group shown Sydney, Australia), “TKU and Karmablast Charity Art Show” (group show, Los Angeles), “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” (group show, Los Angeles).

More images from Birdman here:
Www.facebook.com/birdseyevew

Featuring new works from:
Cryptik
David Flores
Kenny Scharf
Lydia Emily
Mear One
Nathan Ota
2501
Risk
Shepard Fairey
Vyal