Van Saro‘s current show at La Luz De Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles is called “Concrete Jungle,” and this newest collection hints at his past with street art. Whether it’s using oils on U.S. and foreign currencies or adding poignancy and surrealism to street signs, Saro continues to grapple with the concepts of hope and decay in the contemporary experience. Within Saro’s work, governmental iconography is replaced with the faces of children, haunted animals, pop culture references, and instruments of destruction. Saro was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
Saro, a British Columbia native, lived as an undocumented immigrant in California for some time. Off and on the streets for eight years, he worked odd jobs before beginning to establish himself as an artist. There’s much more to the story, of course. This is the information that’s out there about the artist, but on his website (linked above), he takes a different approach to talking about his work: “There is no need to talk about my life, not trying to make a career off my troubles. Just know that I create authentically.”
Saro’s “Concrete Jungle” runs through Nov. 27 at the gallery.
Though 
Taking cue from street art's global influence, 
Taiwan may not be the first place to come to mind when you think about street art, but Hawaiian arts organization Pow! Wow! recently made Taipei its second home. For the last week, about 40 international and Taiwanese artists scaled buildings and crossed below highways to bring their fresh paint styles to Taipei. Just a few months ago, the Pow! Wow! team was in Hawaii revamping the walls of Honolulu for the fourth edition of street art festival