The Turnaround w/ David Ellis

Auckland's favourite Monthly presented by Manuel Bundy, Cian and Submariner. This month's guest, New York Urban Artist, David Ellis.

Born in 1971 in North Carolina, David Ellis is an artist born into a family immersed in music. His imagination was ignited with the combination of watching the 1983 PBS documentary ‘Style Wars’ and absorbing the sounds of early New York hip-hop on ‘The Super Mix’, a Saturday night radio program broadcast from the nearby Fort Bragg military base. During the day he was working in the tobacco fields & by night he was painting murals in nearby music clubs to earn money to buy the turntable amnd records he craved. By the time Grandmaster Flash and the Furious 5 released The Message, Ellis was writing rhymes and banging out beats with his friends on the desks at school. Things have since become much louder.

As one of the most significant graffiti turned fine artists currently working, Ellis' work combines the underlying rhythm of hip-hop with fluid abstraction to produce an amalgamation of sights and sounds that are truly innovative and unique. His paintings are often recorded in a form of digital time-lapse animation Ellis calls motion painting.

Like jazz, these works provide Ellis with an opportunity to combine ideas with collaborators or work solo within a form that promotes improvisation and spontaneity. Ellis often stages events when exhibiting his motion paintings, inviting musicians, performers, and sound artists to interpret the work live. Past collaborations have included Doze Green, Roberto Lange and Barnstormers.
Ellis' paintings are frequently improvised. He works directly on the walls of spaces that remain open to the public during installation and shares the making of the work with viewers. The experience is much like a band playing in front of a passing audience.

His public art projects can be seen on industrial buildings in Brooklyn, tobacco barns in North Carolina, and on the exteriors of MOJO Trucking vehicles. He is also the founder of the international arts collective Barnstormers. Ellis’ work has been featured in New York Times, Art Review, Artforum and Flash Art.

He currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.

Following a month long residency in NZ, Ellis will be performing live at The Turnaround, with his solo exhibition ‘Ox Blood’ being held at Webb’s Gallery, 18 Manukau Rd, Newmarket.

The exhibition will feature all of Ellis’ work completed during the residency and runs 4 – 13 March. Opening preview Tuesday 3 March, 6.00 - 8.00pm.

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