Eric Haze

Career

Haze started showing his art publicly at an early age in 1974, going on to exhibit paintings and drawings alongside close friends Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat in the 1980’s. As part of the seminal New York City collective "The Soul Artists”, Haze was one of the original pioneers to bring graffiti above ground into the mainstream. Haze was also the first graffiti artist to brand his tag as a logo, creating one of the first street wear clothing companies to rise out of the hip hop era. Eric Haze also appeared in the seminal 1983 documentary Style Wars.

After making his initial mark as a painter and graffiti pioneer, Haze then set out to define his career by pushing creative boundaries in a wide variety of mediums. Graduating with honors in 1985 from School of Visual Arts in NYC, Haze quickly emerged as one of the premier graphic designers of the Hip Hop movement. His iconic logos, album covers and identity design for the likes of the Beastie Boys, Tommy Boy Records, LL Cool J and EPMD helped define the visual identity of hip hop’s golden era.

In 1991 Haze relocated his design studio to Los Angeles, where he also founded his eponymous clothing and accessory brand, HAZE. HAZE Brand went on to achieve international recognition as one of the pioneers of street wear, culminating with the development of three stand alone flagship stores in Tokyo by 2005.

In 2005 Haze returned to New York City, setting up a new studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The return to New York also saw Haze’s reinvigorated return to painting and drawing, creating contemporary art for which he once again has achieved critical success for his unique style. Haze has since presented solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Paris and Tokyo. Haze was also featured in the 2011 landmark exhibition “Art in the Streets” at Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles.

Personal life

Eric Haze currently runs his studio out of Brooklyn, NY., where he lives with his wife, actress Rosie Perez.