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SABER was already a fixture in the Los Angeles graffiti scene, but in 1997 when he completed the largest graffiti piece ever created he was catapulted to global legend. His piece on the sloping cement bank of the Los Angeles River is nearly the size of a professional football field, and can be read clear as day from a satellite photo. It took 97 gallons of paint and 35 nights to complete. In a famous photograph—taken by his father just after it was finished—SABER stands on the piece and appears as a tiny speck amid a giant blaze of color.
Born in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, SABER was raised by creative parents and discovered his passion for art at an early age. At 13, his cousins introduced him to graffiti when they took him to see the spray paint-covered Belmont Tunnel. And from that moment on, he was hooked. After honing his skills on local walls, SABER joined MSK, and was later inducted into legendary piecing crew AWR.
While painting graffiti is his main focus, SABER also explores other artistic avenues. He is known for his surreal landscapes, which are pulled from the deep, dark places in his psyche, and has also created groundbreaking metal and wood sculptures of abstract letterforms and painstakingly rendered hyper-realistic canvases.
SABER has also worked in design, taking jobs for Harley-Davidson and Levis, on movie sets and music videos, and was commissioned by Hyundai and Scion to airbrush
cars.SABER is currently prepping the release of his 168-page monograph SABER: MAD SOCIETY released by Gingko Press, R77, and Boost Mobile. The book comes complete with stories of childhood, fine art and his graffiti misadventures.
On July 14, SABER will hold his first solo exhibition “Close Encounters” at White Walls Gallery in San Francisco.
Among the thousands of people who make up the graffiti community around the world, there are few names that carry the same legendary quality as SABER.
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