A new NYC exhibition titled Orchid Rain on the Underground features a series of paintings, a multimedia installation, and a site-specific mural with colorful, botanical elements. The artist, Chris “Daze” Ellis, pays tribute to the city itself and the people and places in it in his third solo exhibition with PPOW gallery.

Orchid Rain on the Underground

The exhibition, which runs through April 25, 2026, showcases the graffiti movement from the 1970s and 80s. Daze asserts the ongoing importance of the city’s key figures and places as a creative influence on NYC today.

Daze was inspired by early graffiti writers while attending High School of Art and Design, including Blade, Lee Quiñones, and PHASE 2. He became a frequent visitor to historic landmarks of the city’s nightlife, such as the Lit Lounge in the East Village, Danceteria on West 21st Street, and the Mudd Club in Tribeca.

These locales often doubled as art galleries and performance venues, becoming hubs of creative experimentation. Through the exhibition, Daze credits New York City’s streets and subways as important sites of his artistic evolution.

Rubble Garden

Inspired by the lyrics of works by Joan Mitchell and Willem De Kooning, Daze combines acrylic and spray paint to create detailed renderings of stations, tunnels, car interiors, and more. In one piece called “Gem Spa In the 80s”, for example, Daze pays homage to an iconic newspaper stand and candy store that once stationed on the corner of St. Mark’s Place and Second Avenue.

This was a site referenced by many literary figures, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. Daze also honors important figures in his life throughout the exhibition, including critic and curator Carlo McCormick and artist Martin Wong.

Other works showcase masses of technicolor flowers growing from piles of urban rubble, showcasing themes of beauty rising from destruction. These diverse combinations of local flowers and tropical flora are from the artist’s home in upstate New York.

The show will also feature a site-specific mural, bringing an aspect of the show that’s normally outdoors to an interior setting. The final room of the gallery features a multimedia installation that transports viewers into a scene from Daze’s youth, combining real subway car seats, a light-up dance floor and disco ball, and a curated track.