Ryan Obermeyer - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ryan Obermeyer is an internationally acclaimed American artist who works in photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

, drawing

Drawing

Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...

, sculpting, and painting

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

. He is most widely recognized for his surreal

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

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

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

, mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

, biological processes, aquatic life, music, and film. Obermeyer's pieces display a precise attention to detail and an unrestrained affinity for fantasy and surrealism.

Biography

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. 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.

Career

While still living in Manhattan, Obermeyer attended a concert featuring the cello rock band Rasputina

Rasputina

Rasputina is a cello-driven band based in New York that is renowned for their unconventional and quirky music style as well as their fascination with historical allegories and fashion, especially those pertaining to the Victorian era....

. A friendship with the singer Melora Creager

Melora Creager

Melora Creager, formerly Melora Mather, is an American cellist and singer-songwriter best known for her role as lead singer and chief composer of the cello rock trio Rasputina....

, founded on aesthetic similarities, was quickly forged. Obermeyer created his first commissioned digital piece, Lost & Found, for the imminent Rasputina

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

Society of Illustrators

The Society of Illustrators is a professional society based in New York City. Founded in 1901, the mission of the Society is to promote the art and appreciation of illustration, as well as its history...

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
Cabin Fever (Rasputina album)
Cabin Fever is the third studio album of Rasputina released in 2002 with Instinct Records. It is noteworthy for its use of industrial influences, particularly the distorted cello.-Track listing:#"Gingerbread Coffin" - 3:43#"Thimble Island" - 2:41...

(2002), My Fever Broke
My Fever Broke
My Fever Broke is an EP by Rasputina, released in 2002 on Instinct Records. The track "The Fox in the Snow" is a Belle and Sebastian cover.-Track listing:# "At the State Fair With a White Trash Sucker" – 4:36# "SweetWaterKill " – 4:08...

(2002), and Frustration Plantation
Frustration Plantation
Frustration Plantation, the fourth studio album recorded by cello-dominated rock group Rasputina, was released by Instinct Records on March 16, 2004...

(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

Caitlin R. Kiernan

Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan is the author of many science fiction and dark fantasy works, including seven novels, many comic books, more than one hundred published short stories, novellas, and vignettes, and numerous scientific papers.- Overview :Born in Dublin, Ireland, she moved to the United States...

and Catherine Fisher

Catherine Fisher

Catherine Fisher is an author, broadcaster and adjudicator who lives in Newport. Her former jobs include working as a primary school teacher and archaeologist. She also taught Writing for Children at the University of Glamorgan....

In 2005 he was appealed by Greenpeace

Greenpeace

Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...

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

Steve Balderson

Stephen Clark Balderson is an American film director.-Early life:Balderson was born in Manhattan, Kansas and raised in nearby Wamego, Kansas until the age of twelve, when his family moved to Manhattan. Balderson attended Manhattan High School. Though his class attendance was poor, Balderson...

featuring phone message descriptions left by Ryan Obermeyer, Ron Jeremy

Ron Jeremy

Ronald Jeremy Hyatt , usually called Ron Jeremy, is an American pornographic actor. Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", he was ranked by AVN at number one in their "The 50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list...

, Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho

Margaret Cho is an American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and recording artist. Cho is best known for her stand-up routines, through which she critiques social and political problems, especially those pertaining to race and sexuality. She has also directed and appeared in music...

, Edie McClurg

Edie McClurg

Edie McClurg is an American character actress. She is known for her perky North Central dialect , common to persons from Middle America.-Career:...

, and many others.

His most recent collaborations include recording artists Milosh

Milosh

Michael Milosh, known professionally as Milosh, is a Canadian electronic musician. As well as being an electronic musician, he is a classically trained cellist starting from age three, as well as a jazz aficionado...

, Back Ted N-Ted, KaiserCartel, and Imogen Heap

Imogen Heap

Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Havering, Essex. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes...

-previously of the band Frou Frou- producing several images to promote her solo album, Speak for Yourself
Speak For Yourself
-Charts:...

, including cover art for an exclusive Live Session (iTunes Exclusive EP), her single Goodnight and Go

Goodnight and Go

"Goodnight and Go" is a song by British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap, the second single from her 2005 album Speak for Yourself. The single received a little more push and promotion in the U.S. than "Hide and Seek", and the music video has received airplay, especially on VH1...

, and her single Headlock (song)

Headlock (song)

"Headlock" is a song by British singer-songwriter Imogen Heap, from her 2005 album Speak for Yourself. It was the third single from Speak for Yourself, following "Hide and Seek" and "Goodnight and Go". Remixed for radio as 'Immi's Radio mix' and accompanied by a new all-vocal B-side, entitled "Mic...

Awards and Exhibitions

Obermeyer received a citation from The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

in 2000 for "Excellence in Design." In 2005 he was a winner in the Adobe Photoworkshop Digital Imaging Contest. The Hearst Corporation

Hearst Corporation

The Hearst Corporation is an American media conglomerate based in the Hearst Tower, Manhattan in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by William Randolph Hearst as an owner of newspapers, the company's holdings now include a wide variety of media...

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

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)

Hearst Tower (New York City)

The Brilliant Hearst Tower is located at 300 West 57th Street, 959 8th Avenue, near Columbus Circle in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York...

, NY (2011). His work is also in many prominent private collections.

External links

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