DAZE (Chris Ellis)

Chris DAZE Ellis / 1962 / New York / Usa

"Through my work, I belong to half of the sixties, and with Crash and Lady Pink, we are part of the second generation of the Graffiti Art that appeared in New York City. The previous generation was composed of writers as Phase II, Taki 183, Tracy 168, Stay High and others. We are the generation that came after, bringing innovative ideas initiated by them.

Since I started to paint, and before I work on trains, I have always given great importance to the Form… When I was working in the subway my mind was concentrate on the decoration of my name. This was the main objective of all my works, while the development of forms was there only to merge and attract attention to the name. When I started working in workshop and to use oil painting, I realized that my type of work should change, and I started to more concentrate myself on the form and its development. I don’t want to feel myself tied to only one type of medium because it is what is expected of me or because it’s the way that I have been identified. I realized that the spray could be applied and mixed with other mediums and give interesting results, I therefore continue to experiment to see where each new work will lead me. "