Chances are, if you live in Baltimore, you’ve seen Gaia’s work. That Egyptian headdress on Old York Road? That’s him. The black-and-white bird on North Avenue? Gaia again. That arabber mural? You guessed it.
Gaia began creating street art in Baltimore while he was a student at MICA. His distinctive work–black and white faces, or human/animal hybrids plastered across the fronts of abandoned buildings–soon brought him a following. In recent years, he’s been commissioned to create murals from Detroit to Vienna (yes, Vienna Austria); his work has been shown in the Baltimore Museum of Art and featured in the New York Times.
This week, the 26-year-old artist was named to Forbes’ 30 under 30 list of exciting, intimidating young people. Other people making the list include Hollywood stars, White House officials, tech millionaires — oh, and some sports guy named Joe Flacco.
