Saber: Mad Society

Born in 1976 in Glendale, California, SABER had already made his name a visual fixture in Los Angeles by the end of his teens. But it was as a 20-year-old that he completed the painting that would catapult him to the status of a global legend. His piece on the sloping bank of the Los Angeles River is nearly the size of a football field, and can be read clear as day from a satellite photo. In a famous photograph taken by his father just after it was completed SABER stands on the piece and appears as a tiny speck amid a giant blaze of color.

In the years since, SABER has continued to push himself as an artist. He has created groundbreaking metal and wood sculptures, painstakingly rendered hyper-realistic canvases, and works in many other media.

We all want to remain permanent, explains SABER, and in his book, SABER: MAD SOCIETY, he shows the entire scope of his efforts at permanence from oil paintings on canvas to the largest graffiti piece in the world. Alongside a wealth of photos, the monograph comes complete with colorful stories of his graffiti misadventures.

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.