Now through May 11 graffiti/fine artists Saber and Rostarr are on view at Opera Gallery in Soho in lower Manhattan in a dual show that contrasts the styles of both while revealing similarities.

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The west coast graffiti celebrity Saber continues to build heavy layers upon his work, carved and chipped away to reveal what is underneath, a personal archive partially on display. It is a fitting metaphor for the residual buildup of a life and the identities that one assumes, curiously all amalgamated into one slightly grizzled presentation. Here the bombastic history of his throw-ups, burners, and tags are transformed into calligraphic letterforms and entwined with the symbolic patterning of a national flag. The muted industrial palette and battered and worn textures and finishes indicate that this has been a hard journey, but not without flourishes of beauty and flashes of style.

Rostarr’s less showy graphic symbolism may be due to a more conservative formative youth and plays more clearly with the letterform as pattern and rhythm.  The New York artist shows passion in the repetition, restricting the palette to two hues and laying in a calligraphic line and a visual beat that feels solid and confident but still human. Like Saber’s work, it feels very personal, studied, and purposefully imperfect. Without the multiple layers, it is more a contemporary diary, cleanly raw and open for you to read.

Saber. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © courtesy of the gallery)

Rostarr (photo © courtesy of the gallery)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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