July 2009: Ellis G. in NYC

When I first saw Ellis G.'s work, I saw a piece about his fire-tagging on Gothamist. His crazy ass tags a wall, then lights the paint on fire before it dries. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch this phenomenon live at his show on July 23rd. Here's what's up:

“Ellis Gallagher is a native New Yorker, born in Manhattan in 1973. He has made his name through paramount innovations in street art. His chalk etchings outlining the shadows of everyday objects are the evolutionary result of his former graffiti-writing career. His graffiti works can be found across New York City’s streets, in Europe and Asia, and in magazines, newspapers, film productions, and beyond. His first book, Adhesives, is to be published with Powerhouse Books and will feature spreads of graffiti and street art stickers, the ultimate compendium of contemporary urban art lovers the world over.”
“In his highly anticipated debut solo show exhibition, Ellis Gallagher continues his quest in deobjectifying the common street icon and manifests it into the surreal. His sidewalk chalk drawings of the city’s overlooked objects- mailboxes, garbage cans, street signs, bicycles, etc.- have become a trademark in street art culture worldwide. ‘Ocular Echoism: The Autonomy of Ellis Gallagher’ is collectively the artist’s most ambitious body of work to date and includes limited edition screen prints, original photographs, skate decks, fire tags, and an indoor New York City street scene instillation, garbage included.”
“Ellis Gallagher’s shadow chalk drawings traverse pre-conceived perceptions of street art’s brevity by manipulating the impact of the ever-changing city landscape, altering it into a sublime standstill. His graffiti-writing roots have evolved into an outlet that speaks and interacts with its viewers by engaging in an ongoing, lucid conversation between the artist and the city residents. Aesthetically, chalk as a medium behaves perfectly to accomplish Ellis Gallagher’s mission to transpose the mundane into something magical. The medium is temporal, opaque, and transcendental, removing the view from his or her own personal reality and subjects one to question something else all together, a renewal of their surroundings that are experienced and disregarded every day.”
“Existing only as a reflection of the environment, Ellis Gallagher’s work spatially considers the everyday object and the study of transitory light and color. In daytime, he aims to perfectly enclose projected shadows, capturing their essence with a chalk outline. The constant battle between the art and the fleeting sunlight sanctions these drawings as being rare and beautiful. Beneath the static glow of the city’s street light, Ellis Gallagher manifests the cityscape into his own playground of glowing shadows.”

Thanks, Ellis! Definitely pop over to his show on July 23^rd. It’s going off at Collective Hardware (169 Bowery bet. Broome and Delancy) at 7 p.m. For more info, check his website. I think I need to be there to witness a fire tag firsthand. Any takers?

Finally, one of Ellis's latest pieces is by the Os Gêmeos mural in memory of Dash Snow.