SABER hasn’t said much publicly since the federally-funded attack on his LA River mural, until now. After spying on the whitewashing work from afar, the Los Angeles-based graffiti writer actually felt “a calming sense of accomplishment” and went home and made some prints to sell you, saying “After I got back home from the river I was inspired to make some adjustments to a small number of the river posters I have, one hundred of them in total. They were signed, dated, numbered, and hand touched, all on the day it was buffed.” ($50)

Images via SABER

It turns out that SABER’s giant LA River piece was whitewashed with nearly a million dollars of economic stimulus funding. Thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, BJD Resourcing was awarded an $837,000 contract to clean up graffiti along Los Angeles’ drains and ditches. While touting the creation of eight new jobs, the US Army Corps of Engineers reports that contract is intended to make the largely unseen water channels “look presentable.” Considering how quickly their buff job will be painted over by graffiti writers and vandals, it sounds like a lot money being flushed down the drain.

Photos by Jay Field/USACE

SABER’s massive LA River piece, one of the biggest illegal roller paintings in the world, is gone. Allegedly taking a year and a half to complete, the MSK graffiti writer’s masterpiece has been painted white in a fraction of the time. Jump for the legendary painting in its original unfaded glory. |Known Gallery| Read more »

What’s the best way to catch someone who’s splashing paint on your legal graffiti murals? You could always hire some stealthy papparazi to stake out your walls or you could pull a police manual tactic and post a reward for information. REVOK of MSK is offering “100 cans for real info as to the identity of the cowardly bitches dissing our walls anonymously around LA.” |Known Gallery|

The folks in Mad Society Kings clearly know a thing or two or three about big difficult spots, so painting this black and chrome roller across the side of a Brooklyn building off the Williamsburg Bridge was a piece of cake in comparison. Click the images above for the before and after pictures.

Photos by Will Sherman and BruceLabounty802