ok, so this if from the nytimes.... The New York Times
December 10, 2005
Tracing Shadows
By CONRAD MULCAHY

It began this spring without explanation: fire hydrants, street signs and bicycles all over Park Slope and Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn were suddenly standing watch over their own distorted chalk outlines, as if anticipating some violent demise. Whoever did this left no clue other than an ambiguous signature: "? Ellis G. 2007," scrawled next to the chalk etchings.

During daylight, the outlines did not make much sense. Shopkeepers and bar owners had little information. Deliverymen muttered to themselves as they moved their outlined bicycles indoors. Parents were just as confused as their young children.

But under the orange glow of the streetlights, the intent became clear: the outlines are shadows, burned into the sidewalk.

The man behind this mystery, who in the last six months has outlined thousands of objects throughout Brooklyn, is "Ellis G.," or as his parents know him, Ellis Gallagher, a Brooklyn artist. His chalk drawings are a private joke between him and anyone in Brooklyn who takes the time to look at his work before the snow or rain washes it away.

"This work won't be around," Mr. Gallagher said. "God knows, it could be gone tomorrow."

His chalk outlines, inspired by his own brush with crime, are "exhilarating for me," he said. "I can do it at any time of the day and I don't have to look over my shoulder. I can do it right in front of the police."

For Mr. Gallagher, 32, keeping his art on the right side of the law is a relatively new endeavor. He spent many years putting graffiti on New York's train tunnels, walls and other public spaces. But graffiti "missions," as they are known in some circles, took their toll on Mr. Gallagher, who works as a waiter when he is not making art. There were the fines, the frantic footraces with police officers (when he was lucky) and the nights in jail (when he was not). A 1999 arrest resulted in a community service sentence and probation, court records show.

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.

Now Mr. Gallagher heads out on foot or on his bike with a backpack full of chalk, looking for shadows to trace. When he tells you that "everything is fair game," he means it. He has traced everything from hydrants to whole city blocks.

While most people in Carroll Gardens and Park Slope have never seen him, many know his work and they seem to like it. (While the city's administrative code says defacing streets is illegal, it is unclear whether that holds true for sidewalks.)

Patty Wu, owner of Handmade on Smith Street, knows Mr. Gallagher's work because he often stops to trace the shadows of objects in her window display, like women's shirts and lingerie sets. "I love it; It's great, it creates a lot of visual interest and people stop and then see the store," Ms. Wu said of the chalk outlines.

It even stirs a little friendly neighborhood rivalry. "People across the street say, 'How come he does it in front of your store so much?' and I say 'Because I have good lighting,' " Ms. Wu says with a smile.

More than anything, Mr. Gallagher will tell you, his work is meant for pure enjoyment.

"All of my chalk drawings are like graffiti," he said. "It's putting out public art for people who normally wouldn't go to a museum."

Claude DeCastro, the owner of the Hoyt Street bar Kili, saw Mr. Gallagher's chalk art and invited him to put up a show of paintings on canvas in the bar, where it is now displayed.

"I think that public art is important," said Mr. DeCastro, who once owned a gallery. "It expresses what people are feeling in society at the time, and it puts it out there. It's not like a museum, where things are hidden away for 20 years."

On a recent evening, a man named Steve stopped to watch Mr. Gallagher work, despite the cold. "A million times I walked by a street sign, how come I never thought to do something like that with a piece of chalk?" Steve asks. Mr. Gallagher smiles when he hears this, watching a new fan walk off down the street.

"It's very touching," he says sincerely. "People tell me 'you make me smile' or 'you make me stop and think,' and that's cool. I make a difference in people's lives. It inspires me to create more."

Then he's on his feet again, clapping the dust off his hands. He grabs his bag of chalk, and a bright smile flashes across his face when he sees a bicycle is casting a hard shadow on a wide stretch of sidewalk nearby.

"Oh, that's a good one," he says to no one in particular.

Before you know it, he's back on his knees, tracing another shadow.

* Copyright 2005The New York Times