Bryan Lewis Saunders (born 1969 in Washington) is an endurance artist, a performance artist, videographer, performance poet, and self-portrait painter known for his disturbing spoken word rants, tragic art performances and stand-up tragedy.

On March 30, 1995, Saunders began drawing at least one self-portrait every day for the rest of his life. For 11 days in 2001, Saunders conducted an experiment in which he ingested or inhaled a different intoxicant every day and created a self-portrait under the influence documenting the effects of his altered perception. A selection of the drug-induced self-portraits presented online would go on to become viral on social media sites including Tumblr. In an interview, he reported that his drug experimentation left him with mild brain damage involving psychomotor retardation and confusion.

On May 16, 2010, Saunders performed in the Palau de la Virreina as part of the International Poetry Festival in Barcelona alongside Bibbe Hansen, Eugene S. Robinson and Lydia Lunch as "The Ugly Americans". In 2003, Saunders began sleeping with a cassette recorder and documenting both his dreams and somniloquy which led to a wealth of source material for both audio releases and books. The transcriptions of his lengthy somniloquy are an example of the stream of unconsciousness method of writing.

On March 30, 2015, on Saunders' 20-year anniversary of drawing a self-portrait a day, the feature-length documentary Art of Darkness was released worldwide on various on-demand platforms. The film, by David Parker, is an intimate profile that includes candid interviews with Saunders and highlights of the artist's life; from troubled childhood through his various art experiments including his infamous "drug series" of self-portraits.

Discography (Incomplete)

Sleep Works

Videography

Bibliography