“This is not an autobiography in the practical sense. I didn’t cover the day-to-day minutia of my childhood or formative teenage years all the way to the present. Rather, I have chosen to take the reader on a journey that covers some of the seminal moments in my life. Those moments shaped my art and allowed me to continue to evolve as an artist”
says graffiti artist DAZE about a book that was long awaited to be published! DAZE started graffiti long before it became popular. He did it for self expression as one of the founding fathers of street art. Chris “DAZE” Ellis hit the art scene in the mid 1970s by trademarking walls and subway trains in NYC. He was just a student at the High School of Art & Design then, but by 1981 he was showing his work in the company of Jean Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring. Thus starting an ongoing legacy of art that continues to this day. You can read all about his art, his legacy and the continuation of his work in DAZEWORLD, a brand new collection of images and essays that make up “Daze World,” the new hardcover from Schiffer.
“This is the illustrated story of New York artist Chris Daze Ellis’s successful transition from the subways to international studios and galleries. Follow his 30 year career from his days as a teenage graffiti writer to his current life as a professional painter, mentor, and family man. This book, with more than 250 photographs, is a journey tracking the seminal moments in Daze’s life that shaped his art. View his aesthetic evolution, from “Graffiti High” (New York’s High School of Art and Design) and an “unsanctioned” street art phase to exhibitions with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. Train photos from the 1970s and ’80s, a broad representation of Daze’s studio and mural works, and personal photos guide the reader through an artistic portfolio spanning five decades. Contributions by graffiti writer Jay “J.SON” Edlin and essayist Claire Schwartz, and a foreword by graffiti historian and chronicler Sacha Jenkins complete this volume..”
DAZEWORLD
Size: 8 1/2″ x 11″ | 269 color images | 176 pp
ISBN13: 9780764351051 | Binding: hard cover
Take a look inside the book with photos taken by Jaime Rojo of Brooklyn Street Art. The book is available here at the Schiffer Books Website!
Chris DAZE Ellis “The City Is My Muse” is currently on view at the Museum Of The City Of New York through May 31st 2016 and he will be part of the MAGIC CITY project (together with Herakut, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Biancoshock, Bordalo II, Odeith and many more) opening doors October 01st, 2016 in Dresden (Germany)! More info here over at Facebook and MAGICCITY.DE!
