Category: POLITICAL
REOPEN CALI
I was a good guy sitting in my apartment for long enough. Strange how most if not all of the mayors and governors who are pushing for longer quarantine time are democrats.
Is this Chinese Flu real or blown out of proportion I don’t know, but I know one thing for sure, the powers that be now know what little it would take for them to strip us of the constitutional rights we talk so much about. And if you think they won’t use it again at some point in the future you’re crazy.
If asked would I feel as though I played in the part of people’s death for convincing them to go back outside, I say no. If this thing is like the flu then we’re all going to eventually get it at some point. Staying inside isn’t going to stop that. Personally I think many more people have had this than we know.
Early february I flew from Los Angeles to New York to do Milo’s show. I sat next to this Chinese girl who was acting sketchy as hell and wearing a mask the whole way. I knew I was screwed and sure enough ten days later, just after doing my Osacrs “Parasite” billboard, I got sick as hell. Most everyone I got in contact with became ill as well. It lasted for sometime. So it wouldn’t surprise me if I’d already caught it. Considering I’m in my 50’s now makes me in one of the high risk zones so if anyone’s going to suffer this thing I’m sure I’m o the list.
So far I’ve had three V.A. medical appointment cancelled because they weren’t considered essential enough to move forward with. One of them was for a glaucoma screening. Considering I’m an artist, that seems pretty damn essential to me. How many other people have died because their treatments were put off because of these mass closing. Not to mention deaths from suicide caused by depression, financial hardships, alcoholism, or drug use. – SABO / UNSAVORYAGENTS
SUB PAR
I want to make this very clear, this is not my design. I wish it was because the design is just as amazing as the concept.
Every morning I’d wake up a little more pressed than the morning before. What would they shut off first, the water, the gas, the internet, electricity, would this be the day the landlord posted a ‘get the hell out of my property’ notice on my door. Six months behind on the rent. Yes, apparently that was somehow possible.
By then I didn’t have much of a relationship with food. Couldn’t really afford to. Not that I wanted one. I joked I could survive on a can of ravioli a day. That with what little I could scrounge at the local AA meeting. They were good for a donut, chips, cookies and coffee. Then I had the occasional lunch or dinner compliments of my sponsor.
Sounds desperate I know but I’d never been happier. Hadn’t been laid in a year, lived in a shit hole, broke as all hell, but I was happy. Pressed but happy.
I swear I was a day or two from having to give up the place and move in with a brother who might as well have hated me. He thought I sucked because all I did was play with stupid posters when I should be looking for a job. That would have been hell.
Then out of left field a phone call from someone I’d never met wanting help putting up their poster. They’d seen one of my DRONE posters on the street and wondered who I was. Through mutual friends they’d managed to get a hold of a friend of mine who helped to set up a meeting.
They showed me the art, “SUB PAR” … Obama golfing. A great concept, simple, powerful. The Masters were having a tournament in the coming weeks and they wanted to greet the public with these posters around the event. They asked if I could put it out on the street. In our online pharmacy, you can buy Cialis online pills at the cheapest price around the clock, anonymous delivery. I did all the creative math in my head and offered to produce and put out this poster for them for $2,000. Under normal circumstances, with my inability to ask my worth, I’d of asked for 2 – 3 hundred dollars but my back was so firmly, financially pressed up against the wall I had no choice but to throw up that number. … and to my shock they said yes. THEY SAID YES! I’d be able to pay some utilities, rent, get some food. Fuck sakes they said yes.
In retrospect I’m fairly certain they were making anywhere from 5 to 15k on the hit so 2k for me wouldn’t have been too much of a problem I guess.
Turns out they were trying to impress a conservative advertising agency in hopes of them creating a ‘black works’ department that specifically handled guerrilla street art. The problem was at the time they didn’t exactly have the skills to pull it off so they contacted me.
I have to think their hopes were to nail down a political client they could represent the way Shepard Fairy did with Obama. At the time all I knew was I had a couple of bucks to eat and pay some bills. So I got to work.
I’m not deliberately leaving out the name of the artist who created this design, I just don’t know it. Fact of the matter is if he’s reading this he’s probably pissed that I’m including it on my website. To which I can only say, “take a number” … pissing people off seems to be my thing. :/
By the time I got done with the art my entire apartment was covered in red spray paint. I made a mess. All these years later there’s still red paint on the window frames.
So it seems in Ted Cruz they had their political client for their budding black bag creative agency they were dreaming of. However there was a problem, Sabo created the art, Sabo is attached at the hip to it. How do we get rid of Sabo? And this is where my heart gets broken.
One in their group opted to paint me an anti-semite and a racist, which I guess they were welcome to do, they wouldn’t be the first. So I lost my mind. I told them to pound sand and I went my own way taking the Ted Cruz design with me.
And it all started with this Sub-Par poster. For years before I’d struggled and worked for nothing. Just to “get up” on the street. I’d create political posters, post them on the street, the photos and post them online. These guys, this group handed me the next key, submitting to publication and from their … so far … I’ve not only been able to catch up on my bills and be able to gain a few pounds, I manage to support my wife as well. And it somewhat started with this poster. 😉
I can’t thank those guys enough. Sad we had a bit of a falling out.
MILO IS CUMMING
I THOUGHT I WAS THE FASTEST CENSORED STREET ARTIST IN LOS ANGELES. NOTHING COMES CLOSE TO HOW QUICKLY THE HIPPIES IN BERKELEY CENSOR MY SHIT. I SWEAR IF I’M NOT OUT TAKING PHARMACY PHOTOS AS THE SUN IS COMING UP I MIGHT AS WELL FORGET ANY FORM OF DOCUMENTATION THAT IT EVER EXISTED IN THE FIRST PLACE. EVEN MY HANGERS ARE DOWN IN HOURS, WHICH IS UNHEARD OF!!!
I’LL BE SPEAKING AT MILO’S “FREE SPEECH WEEK” ON THE DAY OF THE 25th. I HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
VIDEO ESSAY #2
I was scouting for locations in LA the other day for new places to hit when I creeped up on this poster advertising this huge art show being held in the old Tower Records building on Sunset. Gibson Guitars presents Billy Morrison and Plastic Jesus. 2. I’ve run across Billy from time to time and I can’t think of a bad thing to say about him, hell everyone I know who knows him has nothing but nice things to say about him and I don’t have a problem believing them. Although I’ve never heard him play I have to imagine he’s an amazing lead guitarist because he’s played and probably still plays with some amazing groups … but that aside … I never knew he was an artist. After doing a little research I found that he’s a new talent in the art world and God bless him I hope he does well. But to have such a huge art show at such an amazing place right out the gate. I haven’t seen anyone mauever their way into the art world like this since that ass clown Mr. Brainwash bought his way onto the scene. Personally I hate being in art shows. That’s why I rarely show in galleries. I enjoy shooting the shit with the people who are kind enough to show up, it just takes a lot out of me. I’m not exactly a sociable person. The only thing I like about art shows is crashing them and draining them of their free drinks. That’s about all most of them are worth.
Now this Plastic Jesus guy, his art I know a little about and I’ve never got him. I don’t think there’s much to get. I’ve seen his art in a number of shows and as far as I’m concerned he has some skill in execution, not extraordinary skills but skills. His message is about as basic left wing as it gets. Same old tired liberal crap but not so over the top leftist that I have enough of an opinion to even give him much thought. Until I saw this one piece I noticed when I dropped into this show.
It was a mock Barbie piece making a statement about mass shootings and American culture. Just another typical Brit taking a jab at the America. 1. Like we’re not tired of hearing this kind of shit, particularly from people who are guests in our country 2. like anyone from Britain has any room to talk shit about how fuck up this country is. News flash Plastic Jesus, for what ever reasons you left your native Brtania to live here, not there. It’s called voting with your feet. I mean how much of an asshole would I be if I moved to Paris only to give them shit about the number of people who become obese because of the amount of baggets they consume in a given year and how it offends my gluten free life style. or if I start insisting they speak English to make my stay there more pleasant because I don’t speak French. If they picked my ass up and tossed me on a boat the hell out of there … let’s just say, I’d understand.
But back to the art show.
Most everything in the show was your basic Banksyisque stenciling. Actually some of the pieces, I thought, were direct Banksy rip offs. But whatever! I”m used to seeing bad art at just about every art show I run across. I did a lap around the show then left. The only piece I saw that made any impression on me was that Barbie piece. A piece Plastic Jesus didn’t even have the balls to call a “Barbie” piece for fear of getting sued by Mattel. Instead he called it “Baddie.”
Which I find hilarious because this is a guy who not only uses a fake name because he’s supposedly some rebel street artist but who also covers his face to hide his identity. … … … and still he’s worried about getting sued. :/ The whole point of covering … … … never mind.
Shit! I remember I used to cover my face not only because I didn’t want to get arrested but because I didn’t want to get blacklisted in town. At the time I had a “normal” job. Not to mention every other street artist was doing it at the time and I thought that was gay. So when the Secret Service decided to knock on my door I kinda figured they did me a favor letting the cat was out of the bag in terms of my identity.
So no more mask for me.
But back to being sued by Mattel.
A few years back I created this piece I called “Abortion Barbie” to screw with this lady Wendy Davis who was running for the Governorship of Texas. Her claim to fame was filibustering in support of Late term abortions. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe a woman should have the right to do with her body as she sees fit however there does come a time in a pregnancy that that small lump of cells becomes a person. In my opinion late term abortions are nothing more than pure butchery. So I enjoyed making this piece and the last thing on my mind was if Mattel was going to come after me. Shit! come at me! make me famous.
And I knew Senator Wendy Davis wasn’t going to come after me because she was too busy making hundreds of thousands of dollars using my art to generate campaign contributions.
From what I understand many on her staff were telling her to not give my work any attention but instead she ran with it which in the end, I believe, caused her to stumble and not put her focus where it needed to be. I say this because she was trying to distance herself from the name “Abortion Barbie” but my piece slammed it right back into her face. She eventually lost to now Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott.
So there I was standing out in the sidewalk wishing I has said something. Wishing I’d confronted the artist. … wishing … scared. Yeah scared, because like most everyone we try avoiding confrontations. and I believe the Left relies on this. People on the Right are generally mid mannered people who don’t like to stir the shit. When we see something we don’t like, for the most part, we just shrug it off and move on. But not this time. I remembered something Steve Bannon said recently, ‘these militant Leftists aren’t going to give us our country back, their not going to surrender the hold they have on the culture or the narrative. We’re going to have to fight to take it back. So I marched my happy little ass right back inside that gallery show to confront Plastic Jesus about what he meant by this piece and American culture. Well actually first I walked across the street for a few beers then I marched my happy little ass in there. 😉 Here is that unedited clip … the only “edits” are the commentaries I made overlapping the video.
A large percentage of people who go on these shooting rampages are either on or coming off of prescriptionion medication. A rhetorical question because the Left has no interest in truly solving this problem. If they did they’d go after big pharm. But they don’t. Mass shootings are a means to an end for the Left, that being the complete confiscation of firearms and the abolishment of the 2nd Amendment. Hell considering 95% if not more of the people who go on mass shootings are democrats or non-republicans if they really wanted to put an end to mass shootings they’d make it illegal for democrats to own firearms. BOMB! a 90% drop in mass shootings over night.
I wanna feel bad about making a video like this because a swipe like this is pretty mean and I really don’t know this guy Plastic Jesus guy. For all I know he’s a good person I’d dig hanging out with, maybe a friend. … then again I remembered … we’re in the mist of a new civil war, a war of cultures. And those on the Left have had a free ride long enough. No more. If and when you can confront these people. Like Steve Bannon siad, lets put them in their place and take our country back.
This video stuff is new to me. I do 100% of the production so I hope you appreciate the effort I’m putting into this. If you do please take the time to subscribe to this channel. I’d appreciate it.
SHOOT BACK
After 49 people were gunned in a gay bar in Orlando, Florida the gay community was left in shock. My only question was how long was it going to take for them and the “Progressive” Left to blame anything, anyone other than the gay hating Muslim that perpetuated this crime. … It’s didn’t take long. Within days anyone who questioned Mateen’s motives were called “Islamophobic,” within days the same cast of characters were blaming America, the 2nd Amendment, and what they call a “gun culture.” Once again our left-wing government found itself standing on the bodies of dead people to further their own empowerment by pushing ever more restrictive gun laws. And like the stooges that they are “progressives” bought Big Government’s line of propaganda hook, line, and sinker.
We had a different idea.
First off this was not my idea or graphic image. This “SHOOTBACK” image was produced by some friends or to be more precise a committee of like minded activists who needed to have a say in this conversation. They asked me to produce and distribute the posters for them. When the press started calling, said group asked me to be their spokes person of sorts.
I’d like to think that I had some influence with the final design in that originally it had a “pro-gay” sound to it. I suggested it have more a “pro-gun” feel, more of a defense of the 2nd Amendment because in the end the ability to defend yourself applies to everyone. Without that right you’re left at the mercy of the amount of time it takes for a police officer to respond.
On June 12, 2016, Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old security guard, killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in a terrorist attack/hate crime inside Pulse, a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States. He was shot and killed by Orlando Police Department (OPD) officers after a three-hour standoff. Pulse was hosting Latin Night and most of the victims were Latino. It was the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter, the deadliest incident of violence against LGBT people in United States royalpharmacyrx.com history, and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
In a 9-1-1 call shortly after the shooting began, Mateen swore allegiance to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He later told a negotiator he was “out here right now” because of the American-led interventions in Iraq and in Syria, and that the negotiator should tell the United States to stop bombing ISIL.
Initial reports said Mateen may have been a patron of the nightclub and used gay dating websites and apps, but Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) officials said they have not found any credible evidence to substantiate these claims. The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also conducted an investigation and said it found no links between ISIL and Mateen.
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MY FIRST ART SHOW
The Yin and The Yang – A conversation With Artist Woodman Shimko and Street Artist Sabo, Interview by Angela Romeo
I’m not sure how excited I am about gallery shows. I’ve only had a few. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy talking to people who show up asking questions. I can’t tell you how many times after the show I get messages from people telling me that they they saw me, they now know what I look like and the next time they are going to creep up on my and punch me in the head, fucken lame.
Below is a shot I took of the room before my first gallery show held at the Savage Gallery in Palm Springs, California. I really appreciate them having the balls to have this work up in the first place. Honestly I don’t think the gallery owner knew what he was getting himself into and when things did become clear my thought is he became a bit nervous. I could be wrong but … it wouldn’t surprise me if this was the case. Either way, a huge thank you to everyone involved.
The thing about gallery shows is I remember when Banksy came out with his movie “Exist Through the Giftshop.” Everyone and their mother who was an illustrator became a street artist over night and galleries around LA were falling all over themselves to have their work hang on their walls. I swear to God these people would put up one of two pieces on the street and over night they were considered street artists. Two weeks later they were gallery artists. It was so pathetic even the Simpsons did a spoof on it not long after making fun of them.
I wanted to nothing to do with this. I figured I’d try not getting involved and eventually all the fuss would die down. God forbid I try making a buck right?
The owner of Lab Art this big street art gallery in LA tells a buddy of mine that he was interested in see some of my work. I figured why not so I dropped by. I think I showed him 20 pieces, he like about 11 but he needed me to tighten them up. This crazy chick I knew drove me and my pieces there was blown away with the gallery. She noticed they were going to have an all women’s show in the coming weeks and asked me if I could make sure she got in. It seemed they shows got crowded and she didn’t want to stand in line. I asked the gallery owner if he’d insure we get in so we’re not standing in line like “normal people.” 😉 He said to RSVP like everyone else which really pissed me off. I didn’t even know what the hell that meant! So I told him to fuck off. And so went my relationship with Lab Art. To tell you the truth, I regret doing that because 1. she certainly wasn’t worth it 2. I might be further along BUT 3. I knew of a lot of the people in that gallery circle and pretty much didn’t want shit to do with them. I am very much a loner kind of guy. Fuck all that side show bullshit they loved playing.
So for the most part I put all that galley show stuff on ice. Then The Savage Gallery turned me on to a one night show. Seeing they were friends I figured why not. Little did I know across the city the whole Lab Art crew was having a 100 man show or some shit. And there I was all alone. 😉 The way I like it.
I packed my jeep up with a ton of art and I cut through that desert thinking I was going to die the whole fucken weight loss pills way. That wind was fierce and some of my bigger pieces were acting like sails but I made it.
Angela Romeo an art lover in Palm Spring had this show she had booked me on while I was there. God bless her. I was so shock up when I got there I had to have a couple of beers. So there I was parked in her studios parking lot capping a buzz not knowing I was supposed to be on fucken air!!! I got the scheduling all screwed up so as you can see in the video above I was about 30 minutes late.
I enjoyed the time we had, the interview turned out great. I believe it’s still the most watched video in her catalogue. I wish I’d of made it on time because I would have really torn into the guy I was somewhat debating with. Or at least having a conversation with.
The art show went off without a hitch. I can’t believe how quickly we got so many things up. I sold a piece or two. I learned I could be social if I had to be. I still have many those pieces. They’ve become a part of the family. I’m almost glad so few sold. They are like my children.
Sabo
unsavoryagents
