RADICAL FUN doesn’t knock—it kicks the door off the hinges with paint-stained fists and a grin full of glittered teeth. It’s not here to whisper or wait in line. It’s here to spill, scream, shimmer, and set the walls humming.
This isn’t art night with hors d’oeuvres and hushed critiques. This is an electric riot—half street sermon, half lucid dream—where spray cans sing, scrap metal mutates, and the gallery breathes like a living thing.
We’ve summoned 13 unruly makers of mayhem. Think: molten color melting logic, found objects welded into wild prayers, and linework that feels like it was tattooed by thunder.
Next up & featured above on our show poster, Chris "Daze" Ellis (yes, that Daze) layering the streets into dreamscapes, and Chuck Webster, conjuring strange maps for the soul with shapes that stare back.
Chris “Daze” Ellis lit his fuse in 1976 on the steel arteries of New York’s subway system—just a teenager with a spray can and a vision. Born in 1962 and raised in the wild hum of NYC, Daze emerged as part of graffiti’s rebellious second wave, inspired by legends like Blade, Lee Quinones, and PHASE 2. What began as painted train cars turned into a lifelong detonation of color, energy, and cultural pulse.
By 1981, he was showing at the infamous Beyond Words at the Mudd Club alongside Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat—proof that the underground had cracked the ceiling. His first solo show erupted at Fashion Moda in the South Bronx, and from there, the world took notice.
From the Palais Liechtenstein in Austria to the Museum of the City of New York, from Singapore to Florence, Daze has painted across continents—but never lost the voltage of the streets. His work pulses in the permanent collections of the Whitney, MoMA, Yale, and more—each piece a time capsule of movement, memory, and myth.
Featured above is “Known as fair and square”, one of Chuck’s Radical Fun pieces.
Chuck Webster, born in Binghamton, NY, grew up on stories and slideshows from his father’s time as a Stars and Stripes correspondent in Korea and Japan—early glimpses into a world of service, art, and adventure. His family's military legacy runs deep, with relatives who served from Vietnam to WWII, including a great-uncle who helped pioneer naval aviation.
Chuck earned his BA from Oberlin and his MFA from American University, and has since carved out a distinct presence in the art world. His works live in the permanent collections of the Whitney, the Met, and the Baltimore Museum of Art, among others. Critic Roberta Smith described his paintings as “little big paintings” with an “irrepressible scale” and an “intimate” intensity.
A recipient of numerous awards and residencies—including the Pollock-Krasner Grant, a NYFA Fellowship, and a Rome Prize fellowship—Webster continues to live and work in New York City, where his playful, powerful works keep bending space and expectation.
The Parlor is back—this time in a brand new home at 139 Main Street, Beacon! We’re kicking off the season with a bang (and a whole lot of absurdity) with The Bald Soprano by Eugène Ionesco, translated by Donald M. Allen.
Tickets are on sale now.
Opening night: May 9th at 7PM.
See you there.