DAVID SEPULVEDA PHOTO
Almost brushing architect Louis Kahn’s famed tetrahedral ceiling with his curly locks, the contemporary American artist Christopher “Daze” Ellis stood atop a ladder, painting in the geometric clipped-corner tile shapes that are part of a multi-section mural he is creating in the lower level of the Yale University Art Gallery (YUAG).
As part of a 20-day residence at Yale spread over several months, Daze is painting the floor-to-ceiling,12’-tall-by-36’-long mural with the help of a few Yale art student volunteers. Those students are getting the experience of painting with an internationally recognized muralist with two works presently on display in YUAG’s modern and contemporary arts section.
Yale junior Annelisa Leinbach (pictured), who has periodically assisted with mural sketching and painting from the beginning of the project, said the mural’s theme of freedom resonated with her. She also found it “amazing that something I helped with will be part of a permanent installation.”
Daze’s bio chronicles over three decades of mural making from the United States to Paris and Beijing. His work has included “a mural for the Star ferry terminal in Hong Kong, lectures at Hofstra University and the Bronx Museum, completing the design of an entire train station in Hannover, Germany alongside fellow artists Lee Quinones and Crash, youth workshops with kids during the Hutuz festival in Rio de Janeiro, and completing a mural for the Vivo City shopping center in Singapore.” He has pieces in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, The Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of New York, The Groniger Museum in the Netherlands, and the Ludwig Museum in Aachen, Germany.
“Neon Canyon,” 2012, one of two Daze paintings in Yale’s contemporary art wing.
Daze’s trajectory as a successful artist has been the result of reinvention and a willingness to challenge himself. “People that are real artists always step it up a notch. They continue to try to make it interesting for themselves — they continually challenge themselves,” he said in an interview after a recent painting session at YUAG.
Detail from the mural.
Daze’s bold, graphic compositions reveal elements of a spirited visual vocabulary rooted in the work of his early years in New York as a graffiti artist or “writer,” an era from which he emerged as an international legend of the aerosol medium. One of the early sales of his work after his transition to canvas was made in the company of 20th-century icons Keith Haring and Jean-Michele Basquiat, with whom he had several collaborations.
Opening his first studio in his late teens began a period of work that, perhaps more than anything, marked a turning point in his career as an artist. He used proceeds from one of his earliest sales to buy more art supplies. “I didn’t know how long this was going to last and at least when times were slow, I’d still be able to work.”
Detail from the mural. “Eyes bear witness,” said Daze.
Daze noted that his new mural at Yale, painted exclusively with a brush, is different from others he’s done. “I primarily do murals with spray paint, but because of restrictions within the museum, I couldn’t use spray paint, so my approach to it is more like doing a painting on canvas. It’s kind of a first. I’m able to work much faster with spray paint. This is taking longer, but I’m embracing the process as something different. It’s good to get out of the box and out of your comfort zone.”
Part of getting out of his comfort zone will be undertaking an entirely new medium, as the artist produces a limited edition of etchings working alongside Yale School of Art student Mauricio Cortes Ortega.
“I’ve never done any etching before so I’m learning about that process as I go” said Daze.
YUAG museum assistant Alexander Harding of the museum’s modern and contemporary department briefly discussed the give-and-take arrangement that the artist-in-residence program provides: “When possible, we try to have the artists work directly with students. The artists also get to try new things,” he said.
Part of the gallery mural, as yet unnamed, depicts a giant pencil erasing the barrel of an automatic weapon, imagery referencing the Charlie Hebdo massacre in Paris in early January, in which a number of cartoonists, visitors, and staff were killed in a terrorist attack at the satirical magazine. Daze had been preparing sketches for the mural when the attack occurred. Deeply moved, he decided to respond with imagery that is now shaping the mural.
“I grew up with comic art and have a high regard for freedom of speech and liberty. The pen or pencil can be stronger than any automatic weapon,” he said. “The mural is coming along in a real organic way; I’m open to changes up to the last minute.”
Daze’s canvases in the late 70s were New York’s subway trains.
Describing the influences that inform his work, the painter was clear: “I don’t see myself as a street artist — that’s just a label. I’m just another guy who came above ground a long time ago.” While he said he has high respect for today’s graffiti and street artists, he said he gravitates toward the work of comic book artists, photographers, and filmmakers.
Daze also talked about the his preference for seeing an artist’s personal involvement in the work.
“There seems to be a trend now, particularly in contemporary art, where you have the idea, and the idea is the art and you get someone else to fabricate it. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t,” he said. “For my own personal taste, I like to be able to see that the artist has a hand in it — I like to see some amount of integrity about the artwork where it tells a story.”
In reflecting on his long career, Daze likened his immersion in the arts to a series of mountain peaks and valleys. “A lot of people think it’s easy until they actually try to live off their work. They find out pretty quickly that it’s hard. Even the most established artists have difficult periods,” he said.
His time at Yale seems to be one of those mountain peak experiences. “I’m going to try new things I haven’t done before — new mediums — and I’m going to try to do as much as I can. Anything is possible. You can definitely realize some things here,” he said.
A dedication date for the mural has not been announced, but visitors can see it at the lower level of the Yale Art Gallery in the Betti and Jack Goldsmith Gallery area.