Sandow Birk

Sandow Birk is an American artist from Southern California. He has an extensive history of exhibitions both national and international, and has received many prestigious grants and awards. Five books have been published on his works and he has made two films. The majority of his work has dealt with contemporary American life. With an emphasis on social issues, his frequent themes have included inner city violence, graffiti, various political issues, travel, prisons, surfing and skateboarding, and most recently a series on "Death in America" and the war in Iraq. Birk is a graduate of Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design (now Otis College of Art and Design) in Los Angeles. In 2000, Birk exhibited an epic, pseudo-historical series entitled "In Smog and Thunder”, describing a "Great War of the Californias" in which Los Angeles and San Francisco wage all-out war for control of California, at the Laguna Art Museum. The series included such titles as "The Great Battle of Los Angeles". His "mockumentary" film of the same name has won numerous awards at film festivals across the country.

Writer