Tavar Zawacki formerly known as 'ABOVE' is an American abstract artist living and working between Lisbon, Portugal, and Bali, Indonesia. For twenty years Tavar Zawacki created and signed all of his artworks with his street artist pseudonym, 'ABOVE'. Tavar was born and raised in California until the age of 19, at which time, Zawacki bought a one-way flight from California to Paris, France, bringing with him a backpack full of art supplies, all the money in his bank account, and a 'rise above your fears' approach to starting his art career. Starting in Paris in 2000, Tavar transitioned from painting traditional letter style graffiti of A-B-O-V-E, to his 'Above arrow' icon that represented his optimistic mentality to 'rise above fears, challenges, and anything holding you back from your goals.' During a 20-year period, the artworks of ABOVE could be seen in over 100 cities spanning 50 countries around the world.
In January 2017, Zawacki decided to step out of his self-imposed shadow of anonymity, and start creating, and signing artworks with his real birth name – allowing more freedom of creative exploration, as well as liberation from the arrow icon he has associated himself with.