Chor Boogie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jason Lamar Hailey 1979 (age 45–46) Oceanside, California, U.S. |
| Education | Self-taught |
| Known for | Fine artspray paintmurals,teacher |
| Movement | Spray paint fine art,color therapy Modern Hieroglyphics |
Chor Boogie (bornJason Lamar Hailey) is an Americanspray paint artist based inSan Francisco, California.
Chor Boogie was born Jason Lamar Hailey inOceanside, California in 1979. He was introduced to art in general at the age of five by a teacher in grade school, after which he decided he wanted to be an artist when he grew up.[1] He first used spray paint at age 10, and chose the name "Chore" for himself at age 11 (later dropping the "e") to describe his enjoyment of art from a professional standpoint. He did not receive formal art training, because spray paint was discouraged as art.[2]
Chor volunteered as the director of mural projects for Writers Block, a San Diego group that created art with high school students.[2] He curated shows at theSan Diego Museum of Art and the city'schildren's museum.[2]
Primarily an autodidact, Chor Boogie lists as influencesMichelangelo,Da Vinci,Rembrandt,Klimt,Van Gogh, andSalvador Dalí, along with early spray paint mentors from theHip hop culturePHASE 2, Vulcan, and Riff 170.[citation needed]
Chor Boogie paints exclusively withspray paint, in sizes ranging from miniatures (such as a 2010 range of 2-by-2-inch "boogie birds")[3] to building-sized murals.[4] He refers to his colorful style and its intended spiritual and emotional impact on viewers as "color therapy".[5][2][6]
His first major commission was a rock wall he painted in his early teens for a series of motivational speeches byAnthony Robbins.[2] He since hadpublic art projects commissioned inSan Diego (a mural at The New Children's Museum, as well as the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art),[7][8]Beijing, China (for the2008 Summer Olympics)[9][5] andMelbourne, Australia.[4] He designed and worked with volunteers to paintEdgewood at the Edge of the World, a 500-foot-long (150 m) mural in theEdgewood neighborhood ofNortheast, Washington, D.C.[9][10][11] He has held shows inMexico City,Brazil, andDubai, traveled with musicians forlive painting, and has painted a number of spray paint portraits of celebrities includingHugh Hefner,Jay-Z,Ol dirty bastard, andRage Against the Machine.[2][9]
One of his more prominent works,The Color Therapy of Perception, is a 100-foot (30 m) mural commissioned by theSan Francisco Arts Commission's "Arts in Storefronts" project to improve the city's blightedTenderloin neighborhood.[12][13] While painting that work he was stabbed by thieves trying to steal his painting supplies.[2] MayorGavin Newsom visited Chor Boogie in the hospital, and helped complete the painting.[14]
Corporate Zombies is located inNew York, NY at 5 Bryant Park. The building's owners commissioned Chor Boogie to paint a mural inside the empty space on the corner of 40th Street andAvenue of the Americas, as part of the lot's rebranding as 5 Bryant Park.[15]
In August 2024, Chor Boogie and wife co-ran aniboga ceremony at their retreat in Costa Rica during which a participant died. Iboga is a psychoactive substance unregulated in Costa Rica and has documented medical risks, including past fatalities. The incident prompted public scrutiny of the retreat's safety practices and its handling of medical emergencies.[16]