Pablo Picasso once said, “Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.”
By that definition, conservative street artist Sabo has been spreading “truth” around Los Angeles for decades, decorating some of the liberal city’s most iconic spots with stark reminders of the things few in the City of Angels wish to say out loud.
As the whole world knows, there is no bigger night in Hollywood than Oscars night, when the industry’s elite gather to pat themselves on the back. For years, the Academy Awards have provided a global stage for those who wish to infuse the celebration of film with their own political points.
This year, as the city prepared to roll out the red carpet for the 96th time, Sabo’s “truth” was on full display at such Hollywood hotspots as Canter’s Deli, the Capitol Records building, Du-par’s Restaurant and Bakery, and along the world-famous Sunset Strip, and it had one message for those willing to see past “the lie”: Fentanyl is killing Americans.
Across the street from Hollywood’s Capitol Records Building
Perhaps most poignantly, the image of President Biden, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) grinning below the blood-stained hands of People’s Republic of China President Xi Jinping appeared outside André Balazs’ legendary Chateau Marmont, where beloved actor John Belushi died in Bungalow 3 of a drug overdose in 1982.
And, lest any of the movie stars and studio execs missed it, the art installment was front and center at the Academy of Arts and Sciences.
“The artwork depicts those in power from both the Right and the Left who’ve stood by and no doubt profited from the [fentanyl] crisis,” Sabo told BizPac Review. “China is destroying this country without firing a shot.”
“What we’re watching is the deliberate dismantling of this country through drug use,” he stated.
Sabo openly acknowledges, but for the grace of God, he, too, would likely be among fentanyl’s many victims.
“Thank God I’m not a drug person,” he said, “because given what we’ve been seeing, I’d no doubt be dead, like so many every year here in America.”
“I’ve had very close friends suffer and die because of addictions,” Sabo shared. “I, myself, am an alcoholic. Were it not for AA, Lord only knows how my life would have turned out while living in Hollywood.”
The numbers are staggering.
“I can’t believe the number of people who die every year in America alone from fentanyl can overfill an NFL Stadium,” the artist noted.
While the art of filmmaking has largely been swallowed whole by liberals, Sabo has long taken his conservative views to Tinsel Town’s streets, and no politician is immune from his politically charged paintbrushes.
SABO plasters BRUTAL anti-Maxine Waters art ahead of her anti-Trump townhall https://t.co/UWBbTwuFXG pic.twitter.com/LmCJcYzkhd
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) May 16, 2017
But the artist is equally generous with his praise for those who, like him, strive to make the truth accessible.
In February, to mark the anniversary of radio icon Rush Limbaugh’s death, the artist penned for BizPac Review a moving memorial for the man he called “our GOAT.”
“Every morning, for three hours, with half his brain tied behind his back and talent on loan from God, Rush was able to make something as dry as politics understandable and entertaining for millions of people across the fruited plain,” he wrote. “A true virtuoso in his field comparable to Jordan on the court, Tyson in the ring, Brady on the grid-iron or Tiger on the green … Rush was our GOAT, there was no equal and he made it look easy.”
Concerning the fentanyl crisis, Sabo pointed to the deaths of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojicick’s son and Adam, son of Pawn Star’s chief, Rick Harrison.
“It’s crazy how it takes the death of the very rich or famous for it to really take hold as a story,” he said, adding, “I believe the isolation that so many experienced during the COVID lockdowns only made matters worse.”
“People need to understand that we are living in unusually stressful times,” Sabo said, “and I believe that stress is making it easier to just give into numbing yourself to it with drugs or alcohol.”
It’s not, he said, a matter of personal strength.
“I believe the stronger people are having it worse,” he said, “because, with their hands tied, they feel completely impotent.”
For an artist, getting your work seen by those who most need to see it isn’t cheap.
In Sacramento, each displayed poster comes with a heavy price tag, meaning he relies on those who appreciate his truth to support his unique vision of it.
A quick scroll through his website, UnsavoryAgents.com, offers plenty of opportunities to do just that. After all, what sane and snarky Californian could resist an image of Newsom as the demon-eyed Lizard King?
It’s an ideal way for the average art enthusiast to push back against our leaders’ “criminal” ways.
“The police do little, politicians do less,” Sabo said. “The fact that our politicians are doing little to fix this is beyond sad, it’s criminal.”
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Melissa Fine is the former executive editor of Casino Player, Strictly Slots, and Poker
Digest magazines. She is a UCLA graduate, news junkie, and dedicated Stargate SG-
1 fan. Melissa currently lives with her dog and two cats in a tiny town in the Sierra
Nevada foothills.
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