Michael Birawer (born April 17, 1971) is an American artist. Born and based in St. Paul, Minnesota, he is known for his surrealist paintings of urban settings and their inhabitants.
Michael Birawer (born April 17, 1971) is an American artist. Born and based in St. Paul, Minnesota, he is known for his surrealist paintings of urban settings and their inhabitants.
Birawer, a graduate of St. Paul's College of Visual Arts, began his career exhibiting his work at art fairs and local galleries. Today, you can see his works at his gallery located in the artist district of Northeast Minneapolis as well as numerous national galleries and retail outlets. His work combines oil and acrylic paints with layers of sculpted wood that he dubbed "pop outs." [1]
Birawer first achieved major notice in 2001 with his series Scenes from the Twin Cities, which consisted of 20 local landmarks including the Hennepin Avenue Bridge, First Avenue, W.A. Frost and the Grandview Theater. [2] In an interview, Birawer dubbed his style "cat art," citing his inspiration from the cartoonish rendering of felines with elongated features and excessively vibrant hues. [1]
In 2003, Birawer was the winner of the year's poster contest to promote the St. Paul Art Crawl, a citywide celebration of the visual arts. His design "Chestnut and W. 7th" was used in the advertising and marketing of the event. [2] In 2007, he was commissioned to create the official poster for the Minnesota State Fair. [3]
In 2009, Birawer was commissioned to create the artwork "The Art of Parking" for Amano McGann's entry into the International Parking Institute Conference and Expo. The booth was recognized by the committee and earned the award as the best at the Expo.
Comedian and club owner, Rick Bronson, hired Birawer in early 2010 to create a massive 3-dimensional backdrop for Rick Bronson's House of Comedy at the Mall of America. The work measures 12 feet high, 32 feet wide and has a third dimension of 3 feet.
The Minnesota Twins commissioned Birawer in 2010 to create his interpretation of the team's new stadium, Target Field. The work, entitled, "Target Field - Home of the Twins", is on exhibit in the Minnesota Twins team offices at the ballpark. [4]
In 2011 the Minnesota Orchestra commissioned Michael to capture Orchestra Hall before an extensive remodel. The artwork was used for all the promotional materials for the 2012 season.
Seafair summer festival in Seattle, Washington selected Birawer as the Official Artist to commemorate the 65th Anniversary of the event. The artwork, "Seafair - 65th Anniversary" is on exhibit at the Museum of Flight at King County International Airport, Boeing Field through the end of August, 2014.
Michael was selected to create the commemorative artwork for the Museum of Flight 50th Anniversary in Seattle. The large artwork depicting many of the planes in the museum was auctioned off at the anniversary gala in August 2015.
In the September 28, 2015 online Forbes.com included an extensive feature on Michael. "A Conversation with Artist Michael Birawer", written by Jason Borbet, is a very thorough look into the success and business of making art in today's world. [5]
The Minnesota Vikings commissioned Birawer in 2016 to create a large, 3-dimensional painting depicting the history of the team. the 12 foot by 28 foot mural hangs in the entry of the new Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center where the team trains in Eagan, Minnesota
John Berkey was an American artist known for his space and science fiction themed works. Some of Berkey's best-known work includes much of the original poster art for the Star Wars trilogy, the poster for the 1976 remake of King Kong and also the "Old Elvis Stamp".
Irwin Caplan, nicknamed Cap, was an American illustrator, painter, designer and cartoonist, best known as the creator of The Saturday Evening Post cartoon series, Famous Last Words, which led to newspaper syndication of the feature in 1956.
AA Bronson is an artist. He was a founding member of the artists' group General Idea, was president and director of Printed Matter, Inc., and started the NY Art Book Fair and the LA Art Book Fair.
Mel Chin is a conceptual visual artist. Motivated largely by political, cultural, and social circumstances, Chin works in a variety of art media to calculate meaning in modern life. Chin places art in landscapes, in public spaces, and in gallery and museum exhibitions, but his work is not limited to specific venues. Chin once stated: “Making objects and marks is also about making possibilities, making choices—and that is one of the last freedoms we have. To provide that is one of the functions of art.”
Charles Fazzino is an American pop artist, known for his silkscreen serigraphs in a 3D pop art style. His artwork incorporates influence from urban landscapes, sporting events, and modern celebrities. As described in the book about Fazzino titled The Master of 3-D Pop Art, "An innovative and imaginative storyteller, Charles Fazzino serves up a bevy of details in his unique three-dimensional creations. His collectors marvel as much at his ability to capture the entire essence of his subject matter in one statement, as they do at his use of vibrant colors, his whimsical sense of humor, and his hand-assembled multi-layered artistic style. Although, the snappy titled often gives a clue to the content of each painting, it can take years of careful observation to discern all of the details in a single Fazzino image. One of Fazzino's greatest joys is to observe visitors at exhibition of his work. 'I love to watch the smiles form as people begin to recognize elements of my paintings,' comments Fazzino. 'They point at the images as if inserting themselves into the stories. I watch that and I'm reminded of why i paint. It's all about celebrating the joy and fun we have as human beings on this planet."
Peter Forakis was an American artist and professor. He was known as an abstract geometric sculptor.
Claude Henry Buckle R.I., Royal Society for Marine Artists (R.S.M.A.) was an English painter well known for railway posters, carriage prints and for oil and watercolour paintings.
Grimanesa Amorós is a Peruvian-American artist known for large-scale light sculpture installations, where she draws inspiration from Peruvian cultural legacies and the communities surrounding her sculptures.
James Gillick is an artist working in the figurative tradition. He works in his studio in Louth, Lincolnshire. He is known for painting still-life work alongside other subject matter including game paintings, portraits, horse paintings, as well as church re-ordering and gilding.
Stefan Eins is an Austrian-American artist whose artwork has been exhibited since 1970. His belief that art and scientific experimentation are one and the same significantly impacted art and society. He is most known for founding the art gallery Fashion Moda that is located in South Bronx, New York.
David Folley, is an English painter based in Plymouth, Devon, UK. His private studio is located in the north of the city and the public face is his gallery and studio "Discover Folley", situated in Plymouth's historic Barbican. His style of painting has been influenced by Paul Cézanne, Stanhope Forbes of the Newlyn School, Pablo Picasso, Francis Bacon, and Roger Somville, a Belgium contemporary painter. Folley's interests include "Political theory and the interactions between individual and society", colour deficiency and colour perception.
Thomas Gaetano LoMedico was an American sculptor and medalist. Born and raised in New York City, his sculpture won awards in the 1930s and 1940s and is now in several American museum collections.
Thirteen Most Wanted Men was a large mural created by Andy Warhol for the New York State Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair at Flushing Meadows, New York. The mural was painted over with silver paint before the fair opened, probably due to official objections, but other reasons have been suggested.
Anthony Ausgang is an artist and writer born in Pointe-à-Pierre, Trinidad and Tobago in 1959 who lives and works in Los Angeles. Ausgang is a principal painter associated with the lowbrow art movement, one of "the first major wave of lowbrow artists" to show in Los Angeles in the early 1980s. The protagonists of his paintings are cats -- "psychedelic, wide eyed, with a kind of evil look in their eyes".
Michael Lin is a Taiwanese artist who lives and works in Brussels, Belgium and Taipei, Taiwan. He was born in Tokyo, Japan, and grew up in Taiwan and the United States. Lin is considered a leading Taiwanese contemporary painter and conceptual artist.
Kii Arens is an American contemporary, pop-artist, graphic designer and director. He is the owner of La-La Land Gallery in Los Angeles. In 2021 Arens was part of the dearMoon project and created numerous Non-fungible token art pieces to commemorate the designated SpaceX Starship, a trip funded by entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa.
Ben Moore is a British art curator, entrepreneur and artist. He is the founder and curator of Art Below, a contemporary art organisation that places art in public spaces and has had shows in England, Germany, Japan and the United States. He is also the founder and curator of Art Wars, an exhibition of designs based on the Imperial Stormtrooper helmets from Star Wars. In 2021, Moore was part of the Art Wars NFT project which received some publicity.
Drew Struzan is an American artist, illustrator and cover designer. He is known for his more than 150 movie posters, which include The Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner, Mallrats, as well as films in the Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, and Star Wars film series. He has also painted album covers, collectibles, and book covers.
Seitu Jones is a multi-disciplinary artist and community organizer known for his large-scale public artworks and environmental design. Working both independently and in collaboration with other artists, Jones has created over forty large-scale public art works.
Caroline Kent is an American visual artist based in Chicago, best known for her large scale abstract works. Inspired by her own personal experiences and her cultural heritage, Kent creates paintings that explore the power and limitations of communication.