CHRIS "DAZE" ELLIS - "Daze Tag #1"
CHRIS “DAZE” ELLIS - “Daze Tag” Watercolor on Arches. Size measures 11”x 12” 2005.
Very few of prolific graffiti ‘writers’ who flourished during the 70’s and 80’s have survived the transition from street to studio. Chris ‘Daze’ Ellis is among those whose work has provided a powerful and continuing record of an exciting outlaw era of painting. Daze, more than any of the muralists, has successfully conveyed an ongoing message about the mean streets, a segment of the urban cultural experience ignored by more conventional painters. Many of his paintings and watercolors are peopled by characters who at once frighten and amuse. His street scenes are parties where artists, cops, hookers, pimps and musicians mingle. These cartoon-like figures are humorously drawn, but beneath the pleasantness is a more serious subtext. Daze was recognized early on as one of the masters of the graffiti movement.
About the Artist
Daze
Daze (b. Chris Ellis, 1962) is an American graffiti artist. Daze began writing graffiti in the New York City subway in the mid-1970s, while he was a student at the High School of Art & Design. In 1981, his work was featured in the Mudd Club group exhibition “Beyond Words,” which also included the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. The following year, he had a solo show at Fashion Moda, Bronx, NY, and has gone on to exhibit at venues such as the Sidney Janis Gallery, New York, NY (1983); the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Copenhagen, Denmark (1984); the Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands (1992); and the Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT (1995), among others. He lives and works in New York.
Selected Permanent Collections:
Brooklyn Museum, New York, NY
Groninger Museum, Groningen, Netherlands
Ludwig Museum, Aachen, Germany
Museum of the City of New York, NY
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY