Saber (artist)

Saber (born 1976, Glendale, California) is an American graffiti artist, and painter working in Los Angeles. The Washington Post described him as one of "the best and most respected artists" in his field.[1]

Early life and education

Saber graduated from Thousand Oaks High School and attended the San Francisco Art Institute.

Career

He has painted in the Los Angeles area and in San Francisco, and was interviewed by Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine for the July 2007 issue.[2]

Los Angeles River


Saber is most famous for an exceptionally large piece he did on the concrete bank of the Los Angeles River in 1997.[3] The full color piece took 97 gallons of paint and 35 nights spread out over the course of a year to complete. The final work, measuring 250 x 55 feet has been called "the largest graffiti painting ever."[4] The work was viewable from satellite.[5] Highly visible from the East LA interchange near downtown Los Angeles, it was likely seen by millions of drivers over the years. In 2004, Saber recreated the piece in a diorama of the river for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County exhibit, L.A.: light / motion / dreams. In 2007, the piece was included in the KCET project Departures: LA River. Remarkable not only for sheer size, Saber's LA River piece was a complex 'piece' and remained for 12 years. On September 1, 2009, a sub-contractor of the Army Corps of Engineers, BJD Resourcing, removed the work by painting over it.[6]

American flag controversy

In 2010 Saber filmed a video of himself painting an American flag and painting words over it. People said that he was desecrating the American flag. Saber had many discussions with news networks such as Fox News and MSNBC[7]. As he was quoted on his website: "It was never my intention to insult or disrespect anyone. The decision to paint the flag was to show it as a living, breathing, changing organism, that represents me as an American trying to manage this lifelong disease (referring to his epilepsy) without health care."[8]

gollark: Thanks, you've topped up its supply of 1s.
gollark: ```Error. Out of 1s.```
gollark: 1. https://osmarks.tk/ideagen2. Java
gollark: It's generally nicer, since it's not so horribly oopful.
gollark: 🐚 🍁 🇴 🌵 🐪 🎟 <:chips:453465151132139521> ⛳ 🍁 🌕 ⭐ ➡ 🌦 🌥 🌒 🌒 🌤 ☃ 💎 🌘 🌖

References
  1. O'Sullivan, Michael (2006-10-13). "On the Streets, Graffiti Is Making a Name for Itself". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
  2. "Interview with Saber". Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine. High Speed Productions. July 2007.
  3. "Writingonthewall". Playthings. Reed Business Information. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
  4. Neelon, Caleb. "Issue Icons: Saber". Swindle Magazine. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  5. "Satellite image of work". Google Maps. Retrieved 2008-01-13.
  6. Blankstein, Andrew (2009-12-28). "Army Engineers Clean Up Graffiti Along L.A. River". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-02-22.
  7. Allen, Jonathan. "'Desecrated flag' video is DNC finalist". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  8. "Saber’s Statement On The Health Care Reform Video Challenge" SaberOne.com. Retrieved 2012-10-09
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