Daze (left) Photo by Heidi Hartwig · Carlo McCormick (right) Photo by Zach Sokol
P·P·O·W is pleased to host a conversation between artist Chris "Daze" Ellis and writer, critic, and curator Carlo McCormick in conjunction with Orchid Rain on the Underground, Daze's third exhibition with the gallery. Through a new series of paintings, multimedia installation, and a site-specific mural, the exhibition harnesses the passion and spontaneity of the graffiti movement of the 1970s and 80s while demonstrating a thoughtful and meticulous practice honed over the past five decades. Daze and McCormick's conversation will explore the continued relevance of the figures and places that fostered Daze's beginnings as an artist in New York City, and their profound influence on the creative spirit that persists throughout the city today.
Orchid Rain on the Underground is currently on view through Saturday, April 25.
Please join us for this in-person event at 390 Broadway, 2nd Floor, on Thursday, April 9, at 6:30pm.
No RSVP necessary. Seating will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Chris “Daze” Ellis (b. 1962) has presented numerous solo exhibitions at Fashion Moda, Bronx, NY; Palais Liechtenstein, Feldkirch, Austria; Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain, Nice, France; Galleria del Palazzo, Florence, Italy; Fortune Cookie Projects, Singapore; Museum of the City of New York, NY; and P·P·O·W, New York, NY; among others. His work has been included in major group exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY; Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark; Semaphore EAST, New York, NY; Bronx Museum, Bronx, NY; Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, CT; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; New Museum, New York, NY; Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT; K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; and the Drawing Center, New York, NY; among others. His works belong to the permanent collections of the Addison Gallery of American Art, Phillips Academy, Andover, MA; Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY; Groninger Museum, Groningen, The Netherlands; Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL; Ludwig Museum, Budapest, Hungary; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Museum of the City of New York, NY; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; and the Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; among others. In 2025, Daze was commissioned by the Museum of the City of New York and the Olayan Group to create Above Ground Midtown: MCNY x DAZE, a large-scale mural project at 550 Madison Avenue.
Carlo McCormick (b. 1960) is a writer, cultural critic, and curator living in New York, NY. His writing has appeared in over a hundred books, more than a dozen languages, and countless magazines. He was a contributor and Senior Editor at Paper magazine from 1984-2017.