Saber (artist)

Saber (born Ryan Weston Shook, 1976, Glendale, California) is an American graffiti artist and muralist best known for painting a large mural along a Los Angeles River bank.[1] The Washington Post described Saber as "the best and most respected artists" in his field.[2]

Saber
Born
Ryan Weston Shook

1976
Glendale, California, U.S.
EducationSan Francisco Art Institute
Known forGraffiti
Social commentary
Spray paint art
Notable work
Los Angeles River Mural
MovementStreet art, Abstract art

Early life and education

Saber graduated from Thousand Oaks High School. He then attended the San Francisco Art Institute.[3]

Career

Saber has painted in the Los Angeles area and in San Francisco, and was interviewed by Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine for the July 2007 issue.[4] The same magazine interviewed Saber and fellow artist Zes in 2015 about their collaboration production on a large wall in downtown Los Angeles to talk about how much the area has changed since they began in the late 1990s illegally painting downtown LA.[5]

He is best known for a large piece he painted on the concrete bank of the Los Angeles River in 1997. Known not only for its size, Saber's LA River piece was complex and remained at the site for 12 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.[6] In 2007, the piece was included in the KCET project Departures: LA River.[7]

In 2010, Saber filmed a video of himself painting an American flag and words over it. Saber, one of 20 finalists in a health-care video contest run by Barack Obama’s campaign, painted a mural of an American flag splattered with health-care graffiti and discussed the work with news networks, including Fox News and MSNBC.[8]

He took his craft to the skies in 2011 to skywrite in protest of a mural moratorium after hiring five skywriters in airplanes.[9][10] Saber told KCET that the venture was mostly funded by himself but that other artists, including contemporary artist and activist Shepard Fairey, helped with the undisclosed amount.[11]

Saber donated a large piece of art to be auctioned off by the Epilepsy Foundation in 2018 for National Epilepsy Awareness Month. A fundraiser also featured a T-shirt designed by Saber.[12][1]

References
  1. "Saber Draws Attention for Epilepsy Awareness Month". June 11, 2019.
  2. Wind, Yoram; Lev-er, Ornat; Lemelshtrich Latar), Noam, eds. (2018). Can Art Aid in Resolving Conflicts? 100 Perspectives. Frame Publishers. p. 156. ISBN 9789492311320.
  3. "Saber - 40 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy". www.artsy.net.
  4. "Interview with Saber". Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine. High Speed Productions. July 2007.
  5. "Juxtapoz Magazine - Zes and Saber in Downtown LA". www.juxtapoz.com.
  6. Spaulding, Jonathan (2005). "On 'L.A.: Light/ Motion/ Dreams: Developing an Exhibition on the Natural and Cultural History of Los Angeles". Environmental History. 10: 295–313 – via JSTOR.
  7. "Graffiti Along the L.A. River". KCET. January 22, 2011.
  8. Allen, Jonathan. "'Desecrated flag' video is DNC finalist". POLITICO. Retrieved 2019-08-06.
  9. "Glendale native takes his protest to the skies over Los Angeles". Glendale News-Press. September 19, 2011.
  10. "A big blue canvas for airing his graffiti grievance". Los Angeles Times. September 20, 2011.
  11. "Saber Tags Sky for Sake of Street Art". KCET. September 20, 2011.
  12. Foundation, Epilepsy. "Epilepsy Foundation Kicks Off National Epilepsy Awareness Month with Omaze Fundraiser Featuring T-Shirt Designed by Artist SABER". www.prnewswire.com.
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