CHRIS DAZE ELLIS

Chris “DAZE” Ellis (born 1962) is a renowned graffiti artist who began his career in 1976, painting New York City subway cars while attending The High School of Art and Design. He is one of the few artists from his generation to successfully transition from street art to the studio. DAZE’s first group show was the influential “Beyond Words” exhibition at the Mudd Club in 1981, which also featured works by Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. The following year, he had his first solo show at Fashion Moda in the South Bronx. In 1982, the Sammlung Ludwig in Aachen, Germany, acquired his first painting for their permanent collection.

DAZE’s work has been featured in solo exhibitions around the world, including major cities like New York, Beijing, Buenos Aires, Florence, Monte Carlo, Paris, and Singapore. Notable solo shows include those at the Sidney Janis Gallery in New York (1984), the Musée d’Art Moderne in Nice (1999), and the Museum of the City of New York (2018). His pieces are part of the collections of institutions such as the Brooklyn Museum, MoMA, the Groninger Museum, and the Ludwig Museum in Germany.

In addition to gallery exhibitions, DAZE has worked on numerous public art projects, including a mural at The Star Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong (1993) and the design of a train station in Hannover, Germany (1995). He was commissioned for art consultancy on Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series The Get Down (2004) and created a mural for Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton’s Washington, D.C. office in 2017.

DAZE has also collaborated with students and communities in cities worldwide, including New York, Seoul, Baton Rouge, Rio de Janeiro, Palaia, Port-au-Prince, and Andover. His paintings are in the collections of private collectors such as Eric Clapton, Natalie Imbruglia, and Madonna, as well as major museums like the Whitney Museum, MoMA, and Yale University Art Gallery.

DAZE continues to live and work in New York City.

Artist’s CV