Chris DAZE Ellis: Give it All You Got opening at P·P·O·W Gallery

‘Chris ‘DAZE’ Ellis, Is this seat token?’, 2020; acrylic and spray paint on canvas; 51 x 53 in.; 129.5 x 134.6cm

P·P·O·W Gallery will open its doors to Chris ‘Daze’ Ellis’s second solo exhibition with the gallery entitled ‘Give It All You Got’. Born in 1962 in New York City, Daze began his career as part of the second of graffiti writers, painting New York City subway cars in 1976 while attending The High School of Art and Design.

Chris ‘Daze’ Ellis, Masquerade, W.H. in Times Square 2016; oil, acrylic, spray paint on canvas; 72 x 92 in.

Give It All You Got chronicles a lifelong dedication to portraying the life-force of New York City and commemorating those who made it what it is. Combining a selection of significant works from the 1980s and early 1990s with a series of new paintings and sculptures,

Simultaneously capturing the dynamism and spontaneity of the graffiti movement, Daze’s paintings also reveal a more meditative process and technique with works featuring thick brush strokes and layered paint that pay homage to artists like Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, and Joan Mitchell. In a new series of paintings made during the pandemic, Daze captures the day-to-day scenes that comprise life in New York City – the interior of a subway car, a subway platform, Times Square on a snowy evening, a streetscape in the Bronx or Brooklyn – revealing both his personal history and encapsulating a particular moment in time.

Chris ‘Daze’ Ellis, The Explorers, 2021; spray paint, acrylic, pumice on canvas; 96 x 108 in; 243.8 x 274.3 cm

Chris ‘Daze’ Ellis’s first group show as the seminal Beyond Words at the Mudd Club in 1981, which featured works by Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Soon after, his first solo exhibition was held at Fashion Mode, an influential Alternative art space in the South Bronx. Since then, he has had numerous exhibitions world-wide.

Chris DAZE Ellis: Give it All You Got will be on view from January 7 to February 12, 2022 at P·P·O·W Gallery, 392 Broadway, NYC.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an exhibition guide featuring an essay by scholar, writer, and curator Rich Klint. As the Assistant Professor of Literary Studies and Director of the Program in Race and Ethnicity at The New School, Klint has a vocational dedication to the revolutionary potential of innovative humanities practice.