Though they emerged from the same generation and part of the world, influential graffiti artists REVOK and SABER have taken different approaches to transition the grittiness of their street work to the gallery space over the years. The two artists currently have side-by-side solo shows at Known Gallery in Los Angeles that contemplate the relationship between art and the spaces we inhabit in decidedly different ways.
In REVOK’s “Gilgamesh,” the artist created a series of assemblages from objects he excavated in abandoned buildings in Detroit, creating abstract amalgamations that give new life and meaning to the abandoned rubbish. SABER’s show “Beautification” seems to question the divide between “graffiti” and “street art,” using a variety of hasty tags in his work that resemble the scrawling on the streets typically dismissed as vandalism. By bringing this form of expression into the gallery space, SABER turns the graffiti/street art dichotomy on its head. Take a look at some images from the show courtesy of Jon Lake and Brooks Institute.
