DAZE (B. 1962)
Lot 423 LOISAIDA: 1980’S GRAFFITI AND STREET ART FROM THE JOHN P. AXELROD COLLECTION

DAZE (B. 1962)

Angry Images vs. The Letter

Closed18 November 2022

Price Realised

USD 15,120

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DAZE (B. 1962)
Angry Images vs. The Letter
signed 'Chris "Daze" Ellis 83' (lower left); signed again, titled, and dated again '"Angry Images vs. The Letter" C. "Daze" Ellis' Oct. 83' (on the reverse)
spray enamel and acrylic on canvas
54 1/2 x 35 7/8 in. (138.4 x 91.1 cm.)
Painted in 1983.

Deloris Neumann, New York, acquired directly from the artist
Elaine Dannheisser, New York
Anon. sale; Christie's East, New York, 19 November 1996, lot 279
Web Gallery NYC, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner

Specialist note

Chris “Daze” Ellis is a New York City based graffiti artist, starting off in high school in the 1970s, writing on the subways as he rode them. He is considered one of the pioneers of the street and graffiti art movement, which rose to popularity in the 1980s. He successfully brought art from the streets into the studios and to many private and permanent collections.

In New York in the 1980s, Daze collaborated with fellow street artist Crash and other members of the community to create "outlaw installations" in abandoned buildings and old handball courts. These installations were experimental creative environments composed of anything the young and resourceful artists could get their hands on. Soon enough, these "outlaw installations" caught the attention of the more traditional downtown art scene, and Daze took his craft a step further by bringing the ethos of the street onto the canvas.