Chuck Sperry

Chuck Sperry

Chuck Sperry lives in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, where he’s made his particular style of rock poster designs for over 20 years. He operates Hangar 18, a silkscreen print studio, located in Oakland.

By

The Rock Poster Society, Festival of Rock Posters 2018

Getting super excited for TRPS this coming Saturday 10 am to 6 pm! I’ll have rare posters, unreleased variants, test prints, recent art prints, very limited oak panels, blotter art, my new books and really cool surprises! See you there for an action-packed Saturday in the Park!

No denying, it’s a great time for my work: TRPS from 10 am to 6 pm; “Hi-Fructose Presents: The Art of the Mushroom” from 7 pm to 10 pm; and all the while my museum solo is running until December 9 at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. The best part is to share Saturday with so many good friends, and with so many inspiring artists. Please join us!

(Yes, there will be a couple of rare Pearl Jam Miami lava foils – shown above – so get in line early!)

Here’s a small taste of some of the goodies you will find at my booth at TRPS…

Widespread Panic Red Rocks, 2018
16 x 35
Mulberry Parchment Variant Edition of 15
5 colors on fine mulberry parchment
Signed and Numbered

Widespread Panic Red Rocks, 2018
16 x 35
Green Swirl Variant Edition of 4
5 colors on green swirl mulberry
Signed and Numbered

Widespread Panic Red Rocks, 2018
16 x 35
Pink Swirl Variant Edition of 3
5 colors on pink swirl mulberry
Signed and Numbered

Published by Hangar 18
Foreward by Josef Zimmerman, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Curator of Contemporary Art
Hardback First Edition of 500 / “Gold Edition”
Gold embossed cover, signed and numbered
9 x 12 inches / 136 pages
75 color illustrations
Printed and bound in the United States

_______________

Published by Hangar 18
Foreward by Josef Zimmerman, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Curator of Contemporary Art
Hardback Second Edition of 1500 / “Silver Edition”
Silver embossed cover
9 x 12 inches / 136 pages
75 color illustrations
Printed and bound in the United States

_______________

San Francisco’s annual Fall Clas­sic, the TRPS Fes­ti­val of Rock Posters is set to go for Sat­ur­day Octo­ber 20th, 2018 at the San Fran­cisco County Fair Build­ing (aka Hall of Flow­ers) in beau­ti­ful Golden Gate Park.

Fea­tur­ing rock poster artists and deal­ers from around the coun­try, this is the biggest rock poster event of its kind any­where. Those of you who have attended this show in the past know that this is the one not to miss. We bring in the best of the best, and you’ll find every­thing from vin­tage psy­che­delic trea­sures to the best of the mod­ern silkscreen move­ment. This year’s ver­sion promises to offer another stel­lar lineup.

The loca­tion is at the cor­ner of Ninth and Lin­coln on the South edge of the Park, not far from the Haight, the DeY­oung Museum, and the Acad­emy of Sci­ences. There are plenty of great restau­rants close by, too. Make it a week­end and bring the fam­ily to enjoy the great weather, an awe­some poster event, and every­thing else San Fran­cisco has to offer.

Festival of Rock Posters: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20 at the Hall of Flowers, Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way, Golden Gate Park.

By

“Know Thyself” Art Print by Sperry at “Hi-Fructose Presents: The Art of The Mushroom” Group Show

Know Thyself, 2018
19 x 25.5
Edition of 100
4 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

I was blessed to have visited Delphi – the navel of the earth – on the autumnal equinox this last month. Delphi is the site of a major temple to Apollo, as well as the famous oracle. Carved into the temple was the phrase: γνῶθι σεαυτόν – [gnōthi seautón] – “know thyself.” Ancient wisdom fitting seamlessly with the illuminating psychedelic influence of the mushroom, my printing-fingers got to work!

This poster will be available at The Compound Gallery at the opening for “Hi-Fructose Presents: The Art of The Mushroom” on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at 7 pm.

Hi-Fructose Presents: The Art of The Mushroom
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 20th 7-10pm

The Compound Gallery
1167 65th St, Oakland, California 94608

Show Dates: October 20-December 9, 2018

This special show is an exploration into artists’ interpretations of the friendly, deadly, tasty, hallucinogenic, phallic, alien, and legendary mushroom.

Opening Reception featuring an interactive photo booth by Attaboy. So be Red Carpet Ready! Many artists will be in attendance at the opening. More information coming soon.

To receive a collector’s preview of works made specifically for this show contact: [email protected]

Featuring work by: Andrew Schoultz, Naoto Hattori, Chuck Sperry, Annie Owens, Steven Cerio, Marion Peck, Mark Ryden, Travis Louie, Travis Lampe, Attaboy, Isabel Samaras, Michael Campbell, Martin Ontiveros, Gary Taxali, Michael Reedy, Nicomi Nix Turner, Mark Dean Veca, Ferris Plock, Jennybird Alcantara , Yoko d’holbachie, Skinner, Ellen Jewett, Brandi Milne, Marco Mazzoni, Kii Arens, Graham Yarrington, Erika Sanada, Junko Mizuno, Renee French, Crystal Morey, Smithe, Scott Musgrove, Charlie Immer, Horrible Adorables, Laura Berger, Christophe Gilland, Casey Weldon, Wayshak, KRK Ryden, John Casey, Dave cooper, Rob Sato, Joe Vaux, Dave Correa, Robert Bowen, Tripper, Bwana Spoons, Gosia, Miles Johnston, Christina Mrozik, Matt Gordon, Alex Pardee, Tristan Eaton, Johnny KMNDZ Rodriguez

By

Chuck Sperry x Spoke Art at NYCC with “Truth” & “Beauty” Art Prints

I am very excited to be teaming up with Spoke Art for their return to the Javits Center New York City on October 4-7 for the 2018 New York Comic Con! This year, Spoke Art will be offering up a new batch of exclusive limited edition prints and collectibles as well as select archives from a number of  artists.

Stay up-to-date with the latest NYCC news and more at Spoke Art Gallery

Spoke Art Gallery will be making a very limited release of my Truth and Beauty art prints, and releasing a very limited number of their variant editions, check their website for booth number and times.

Truth, 2018
19 x 25.5 inches
Edition of 150
7 colors screen printed on cream paper
Signed and numbered

 

Truth, 2018
19 x 25.5 inches
Sparkle Foil Edition of 25
7 colors screen printed on sparkle foil
Signed and numbered

Truth, 2018
19 x 25.5 inches
Lava Foil Edition of 25
7 colors screen printed on lava foil
Signed and numbered

Beauty, 2018
19 x 25.5 inches
Edition of 150
7 colors screen printed on cream paper
Signed and numbered

Beauty, 2018
19 x 25.5 inches
Sparkle Foil Edition of 25
7 colors screen printed on sparkle foil
Signed and numbered

Beauty, 2018
19 x 25.5 inches
Lava Foil Edition of 25
7 colors screen printed on lava foil
Signed and numbered

By

“Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry” Available Online October 7

“Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry” – both the Gold and Silver Editions – is available now!
“Chthoneon” – released at Chuck Sperry’s wildly successful opening for his ongoing solo museum exhibition (see Andrew Novak’s video below) – is now available online to all.

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.

Published by Hangar 18
Foreward by Josef Zimmerman, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Curator of Contemporary Art
Hardback Second Edition of 1500 / “Silver Edition”
Silver embossed cover
9 x 12 inches / 136 pages
75 color illustrations
Printed and bound in the United States

Published by Hangar 18
Foreward by Josef Zimmerman, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Curator of Contemporary Art
Hardback First Edition of 500 / “Gold Edition”
Gold embossed cover, signed and numbered
9 x 12 inches / 136 pages
75 color illustrations
Printed and bound in the United States

“Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry” delves boldly into Sperry’s artistic imagination, inspiration and reasoning, continuing where it’s companion book “Helikon, The Muses of Chuck Sperry” left off. “Chthoneon” collects 22 gorgeously photographed new Sperry screen printed art works paired with the prose or poem — from Aristophanes to Margaret Atwood — that inspired each.

Indeed, dozens of Sperry’s newest art pieces are presented across 136 pages, including an up-to-date collection of his masterfully screen printed wood panel series of contemporary-classical muses — work inspired by the spirit of the modern rock poster, graffiti, and the utopian ethos of 1960’s psychedelia;  his ground-breaking large format handwoven wool tapestries — with a moving photographic journal (by Shaun Roberts) of his visit to Guadalajara to meet the tapestry-makers;  his political posters created for official distribution at the Women’s March and March For Science — wildly successful fund-raisers for Planned Parenthood and science education programs. “Chthoneon” is overflowing with evocative and inspiring new work from one of America’s most popular, outspoken and important contemporary artists.

The reader is offered fresh insight with an extensive interview of Sperry by Spoke Art Gallery curator Dasha Matsuura — first published in Juxtapoz — beautifully illustrated with dozens of Shaun Roberts photos to create an intimate portrait of the artist at work.

Chuck Sperry’s newest book “Chthoneon” celebrates the divine feminine and the regenerative power of nature, gathering together work shown in his first museum solo exhibition “All Access” at Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Foreward by museum Curator of Contemporary Art, Josef Zimmerman:  “Chuck Sperry sees into a world that is unknown to most.”

More photos of Sperry’s “All Access” opening: Spoke Art;  Final photo: Glenn Barr

By

“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.

Archives

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

Latest Blog Posts