We've been following the career of Ellis G for about a year-- ever since he started chalking his shadow-art around Smith Street in Brooklyn. He's already gotten a fair amount of press for the shadow-outlines-- and he deserves it, because the pieces are unique and fun. Today the Times weighs with a nice bio piece:
But Mr. Gallagher's passion for graffiti was extinguished for good early one morning in 2001, when he and Hector Ramirez, a close friend, were painting in the F train tunnel between Bergen and Carroll Streets. A train roared by, and Mr. Ramirez was struck and killed. Mr. Gallagher was not injured. "After that," he said, "I'd had enough."
He turned to painting, working out of a studio and focused on displaying his work in shows with other artists, including a forthcoming book called "Adhesives" that is a collection of stickers made by graffiti artists from all over New York.
Earlier this year, Mr. Gallagher was mugged on his way home from a shift at Bar Tabac on Smith Street, where he worked as a waiter. "I turn around and this guy's got a two-foot machete in my face," he said.
Mr. Gallagher was unhurt and the mugger was later caught by the police, but one night soon after the mugging, with the image of his attacker's dark silhouette still burned into his memory, Mr. Gallagher was mesmerized by a shadow on the sidewalk. He reached into his pocket and felt the chalk he had used to write the outdoor menu at Bar Tabac, and he dropped to his knees to outline it.
Shadow art was born.
Bonus fact: the Times reveals that chalk graffiti on sidewalks is in a legal gray area: "While the city's administrative code says defacing streets is illegal, it is unclear whether that holds true for sidewalks." Good news for another of our favorite chalksters, James De La Vega! [Related: Bococa on Ellis, City Noise article, Daily News article from August.]
Image from Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn.
