Chuck Sperry

Archives for August 2018

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“Litmus Test” Exhibition at Fort Wayne Museum of Art on September 14

Litmus Test: Works on Paper from the Psychedelic Era

Fort Wayne Museum of Art

Exhibition Opening Party: September 14, 6-9pm

September 15 – December 9, 2018

The Psychedelic Era was, among many things, a cultural frontier for colors and imagery. Music, politics, and drugs ignited an unprecedented expansion of art revolving around these elements. College campuses around the country, now seen as the birthing grounds for much of the psychedelic era’s ideals, were hotbeds for bright young minds to organize politically and artistically. From Berkeley College to the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, young idealists organized and the art of the era came to fruition. This exhibition will be our bridge to that time, showcasing a variety of psychedelic era works on paper.

Highlighting this experience is the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, Michigan. The poster work and ephemera of Gary Grimshaw and the photography of Leni Sinclair will showcase the art that poured out of that time and place. Blotter sheets from Mark Mothersbaugh, H.R. Giger, S. Clay Wilson, Chuck Sperry, and more will represent the creative fuel for many of the artists of the time. Also featured will be the work of the poster artists of the time: Wes Wilson, Victor Moscoso, Stanley Mouse, Rick Griffin, and Alton Kelley. Lastly works by artists Alex and Allyson Grey and Isaac Abrams will display the fine art guided and influenced by the era and movement.

Exhibition Opening Party: September 14, 6-9pm

Celebrate opening weekend of this exhibit and Litmus Test: Works on Paper from the Psychedelic Era with live music, cash bar, appetizers, with many of the artists in attendance!

This exhibition is curated by independent curator and critic Carlo McCormick and FWMoA Curator of Contemporary Art Josef Zimmerman.

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Preview: Sperry Solo Museum Exhibition, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, in September

This September 14th, Chuck Sperry will be opening a special solo museum exhibition “All Access: Exploring Humanism in the Art of Chuck Sperry”. This exhibition will be hosted at The Fort Wayne Museum of Art from September thru December 9th.

Opening Party: September 14, 6-9pm

More info on the event and information on purchasing tickets can be found here.

Sperry has been preeminent in the rock poster genre since the late 1990s and has largely defined the genre in each decade since with his distinctive style and masterful printing technique.

Symbolism, Secession, ukiyo-e, and psychedelia blend in Sperry’s flattened, post-modern figurative art: all potent ingredients Sperry strives self-consciously to re-evaluate for the 21st Century.

Several new wood panels will be available at this event as well as new paper editions including variants.

The exhibit will also feature two large scale tapestries, original ink drawings, and ephemeral color progressives which illuminate Sperry’s unique printing process.

Sperry’s newest art book will be released “Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry” the 136 page follow up of his art book “Helikon, The Muses of Chuck Sperry”.

Nymph, 2018
20 x 32 inches
Oak Panel Edition of 30
7 colors screen printed on oak panel
Signed and numbered

_______________

Eirene, 2018
20 x 23 inches
Oak Panel Edition of 30
6 colors screen printed on oak panel
Signed and numbered

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Mnemosyne, 2018
20 x 26 inches
Oak Panel Edition of 30
6 colors screen printed on oak panel
Signed and numbered

_______________

Gaia, 2018
20 x 26.25 inches
Oak Panel Edition of 30
7 colors screen printed on oak panel
Signed and numbered

_______________

Siren, 2018
17.5 x 33 inches
Oak Panel Edition of 30
7 colors screen printed on oak panel
Signed and numbered

_______________

Below, the contents page from my new art book “Chthoneon” – all these panels (and much more!) will be available to acquire at the exhibition:

 

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MC50 Poster by Sperry Offered on Kick Out The Jams Tour

MC5 by Chuck Sperry for Wayne Kramer

MC50, 50th Anniversary of Kick Out The Jams
18 x 24
Offset Poster
Printed by Idealposters, series no. 100

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Posters will be available officially through Wayne Kramer MC50 at the show and through SUPER FAN PRE-SHOW EXPERIENCE, details below.

MC50 are releasing SUPER FAN PRE-SHOW EXPERIENCE:
For more information, please visit HERE 

MC50 – WAYNE KRAMER SUPER FAN PRE-SHOW EXPERIENCE INCLUDE:
•One (1) general admission floor ticket
•Join Wayne Kramer for a no-holds-barred conversation before the show (no topic off limits) including an exclusive look into Wayne’s personal guitar collection
•Personal photo with Wayne Kramer
•One (1) first edition autographed copy of the upcoming memoir, “The Hard Stuff: Dope, Crime, The MC5, & My Life Of Impossibilities” (Da Capo Press)
•One (1) limited-edition 18”x24” custom tour poster designed by renowned artist Chuck Sperry
•One (1) custom Kick Out the Jams anniversary tour merchandise gift bag
•Early entry into the venue
•On-site experience host

In May 2018, Wayne Kramer announced an MC5 tour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kick Out the Jams, with a line-up including himself, plus rock stalwarts Kim Thayil (Soundgarden), Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Doug Pinnick (King’s X), Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla), Don Was (Was Not Was), Bill Gould (Faith No More) and Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam). 

I’ve been a fan of the MC5 since I was 9 years old. I grew up in a rebellious time in a crucible of art and politics. Swept up by the social transformations of the late-60’s and early-70s, my whole family was effected: an older brother of draft-age, another brother going to Kent State after anti-war activists were shot by the National Guard there, a sister who went to art school in Memphis, and a cousin who lived in the Trans-Love commune in Ann Arbor where MC5 was based. MC5 was the soundtrack of revolutionary times and my family’s immersion in it. 

Growing up in Dayton, Ohio, relatively close to Detroit, MC5’s brand of revolutionary rock and roll made a deep impression on me, influenced my musical and artistic tastes, my political development, and helped inspire my commitment to social issues. I have been lucky enough to work with Wayne Kramer on a few tour posters over the years. Wayne is a cultural icon and is always an inspiration to work with. I’m honored to contribute to his legacy as a musician who has rocked so hard in resistance to the injustices of the world. – Chuck Sperry

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“Nymph” Wood Panel Release at Sperry Exhibition, Fort Wayne Museum of Art


I’m happy to reveal the fourth of 6 new panels for my museum solo exhibition in Fort Wayne, Indiana —

“Nymph” will be available at the Opening Party: September 14, 6-9pm!

Stay tuned to my website for more Sperry Museum Solo reveals over the next days!

Join our Chuck Sperry Opening Party Facebook Event here.

All Access: Exploring Humanism in the Art of Chuck Sperry
September 15 – December 9, 2018

The Fort Wayne Museum of Art is pleased to celebrate Chuck Sperry’s first solo museum exhibition. Sperry has been preeminent in the rock poster genre since the late 1990s and has largely defined the genre in each decade since with his distinctive style and masterful printing technique.

There will be several new wood panel editions, and two new paper editions with variant editions available to acquire.

I will be releasing “Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry” the 136 page follow up of my art book “Helikon, The Muses of Chuck Sperry”.

Nymph, 2018
20 x 32 inches
Oak Panel Edition of 30
7 colors screen printed on oak panel
Signed and numbered
______________

Sperry has drawn inspiration for this work from the classical Greco-Roman idea of the muses, and their metaphorical home on Mount Helikon — the source of inspiration for all things art and music. Naiads, nymphs and muses in their richly patterned floral settings make their way into Sperry’s work. Dripping with brightly colored flowers, decked in gold and silver textures, Sperry’s blue-silver muses sing a paean to the long tradition of humanism reactivated in the struggle for social progress, universal human rights, a more perfect democracy and the utopian ideals of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco where Sperry has made his home since 1989.

Symbolism, Secession, ukiyo-e, and psychedelia blend in Sperry’s flattened, post-modern figurative art: all potent ingredients Sperry strives self-consciously to re-evaluate for the 21st Century.

The exhibit will feature 2 large scale tapestries designed by Sperry, 25 screen prints on oak panel, original ink drawings, and ephemeral color progressives which illuminate Sperry’s unique printing process.

This exhibition is organized by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and its Curator of Contemporary Art Josef Zimmerman.

Archives

Sperry Books: “Color x Color” • “Helikon” • “Chthoneon” • “Idyllion”

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