Chuck Sperry

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Widespread Panic Vegas “Venus” Poster

Widespread Panic, The Theater At Virgin Hotels Las Vegas
20 x 34.5
Edition of 500
7 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

We broke the internet. Terribly sorry for the news. I was working with technical solutions that now will take time to implement. I will reschedule the drop to a future date TBA.

As you may remember my last Widespread Panic poster featured Diana, goddess of the Moon, making an offering to Venus, the evening star, goddess of love. Many felt this was the one of the last posters released before the pandemic closed everything down. Now, after three years, it appears we’re back to a busy concert schedule. The Center for Disease Control will soon declare an official end to the pandemic. My Las Vegas poster shows Venus receiving Diana’s offering with gratitude.

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Artists 4 ERA at Virginia Museum of History & Culture

Artists4ERA: Virginia Edition
February 17 – (extended to) June 4, 2023 
Virginia Museum of History & Culture • Richmond, Virginia 

About the Exhibit:

The founding ideal of the United States that “all men are created equal” has not always been a reality. People of color, women, Americans with disabilities, and other groups have had to fight for equal rights. 

In 2020, Virginia became the 38th and final state needed to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)—the culmination of a century-long battle for women’s equality. Artists4ERA is part of ongoing efforts to ensure that the ERA becomes the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Participating artists from across the country have created images to raise awareness about the ERA and to promote gender equality. 

This exhibit features 28 original works of art from the Artists4ERA collection, including 20 designs by Virginia artists. The vitality and diversity of these pieces embody an enduring commitment to a Constitution that guarantees equality for all. 

Artists: Crudcity, Evergib, Faithe Norrell, Haadia Khan, Hamilton Glass, Jess Walters, Jowarnise, Mahari Chabwera, Meme, Michael-Birch Pierce, Nico Cathcart, Noah Scalin, Pete Morelewicz, Rachel Welsh de Iga, Roshi K, Sam Skrimpz, Silly Genius, Ashley Hawkins / Studio Two Three, Amir Khadar, Chuck Sperry, Claudia “Claw Money” Gold, Deedee Cheriel, Ferris Plock, Kelly Tunstall,  Shepard Fairly, Sophia Pineda, Tara McPherson, Tracie Ching

Posters are available at the opening and online HERE

Tickets for the Museum Gala Opening are required to attend. There’s a limited number of tickets available so don’t miss out. Purchase HERE

Here below, Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger presents US Congressional ERA lead sponsor Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley with my “Equal Rights, Flower of Democracy” poster on behalf of Vote Equality and Artists 4 ERA, and announces the Artists 4 ERA exhibit at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture.

 

I will not be able to attend the opening, but I have partnered with Artists 4 ERA and Vote Equality for a special surprise!

Thanks to Three Notch’d Brewing Company and their support of gender equality, the brewer teamed up with Artists4ERA to create “Joyful Ruckus” IPA to celebrate the upcoming exhibit at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. I am honored to donate my “Flower of Democracy” design for this limited edition beverage which will be available at the Opening Gala event of “Artists4ERA: Virginia Edition” on February 17th.

Artists4ERA is organized by VoteEquality, a grass roots, non-partisan organization working to guarantee equality for all Americans by enshrining the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. Constitution. 

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Edwardian Ball 2023 Poster

Edwardian Ball 2023
21 x 35
Edition of 250
5 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!

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This poster is officially available at the show in SF. I will be making a very limited online release of this poster on Sunday, February 5, 2023 between 9-10 am PST.

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It’s Edwardian Ball time again, and as always, it’s a great pleasure to work with Justin Katz, the Edwardian Ball impresario, and once again I had a lot of fun making this poster!

My Edwardian Ball posters always have an edge of social critique in them. They are done with a wink and a nod, in keeping with the enjoyment of attending such an elaborate period pageant.

Most of the attendees also realize that the Edwardian era was one of unabashed and ostentatious oligarchy, unrivaled economic imperialism and a presumed European superiority complex. It’s all of these things that makes the period so bizarre to us today. I’ve always endeavored to reveal this outrageous and bizarre sense of imperial entitlement in my Edwardian Ball posters, and keep them wild and fun.

I try to channel the spirit of our age in a non-linear way with each year’s Edwardian Ball poster, making allegory, or touching a simple parallel between our 21st Century experience and the far-away world of Edwardian “Society.” 

This year’s poster is a portrait of the Edwardian Era’s namesake: King Edward VII. Edward was a cad’s cad. The moral of his story is one of the bilious poison of the privileged life of an ill-moralled emperor. The poison will get you in the end.

Known as “Dirty Bertie”, Edward spent every spare moment during the 20 years before ascending the throne in 1901 patronizing every bordello in Paris. His favorite establishment Le Cabanais had a reserved room for the future emperor-king complete with his coat-of-arms over his bed. Edward lodged there with his own elegant copper bathtub fashioned into an oddly shaped half-woman, half-swan (Salvador Dali later purchased Edward’s tub of ill-repute). He was keen to fill his tub with champagne. You heard that right, he bathed in champagne.

Edward was quite the inveterate blue-blooded, demi-monde and spent every night in a variety of Paris’ nightclubs in and around Montmartre, especially the legendary Moulin Rouge. If you made the scene in the Paris of the 1880’s and 90’s you would have eventually rubbed shoulders (or perhaps some body part) with the debauched future King of the British Empire. 

I shouldn’t say that Edward VII settled down after being burdened with the Crown. His appetites killed him in 9 short years on the throne. He continued his unabashedly toxic, imperial ways through an unabashedly toxic and imperial age, which shall ever bear his name: the Edwardian Era.

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Chuck Sperry Teams Up with Meier Skis

“Meier Skis has been producing quality, handmade, wood skis since 2009, and we have a reputation for building some of the best wood skis on the planet. We use sustainable, locally-sourced wood, and carefully handcraft each pair in Denver, Colorado in our very own Craft Skiery. We think we make the best skis money can buy, and we’re not alone.” – Meier Skis

Limited Edition of 100 for each ski or snowboard – Available Now!

In October 2022 I met with Ted Eynon, owner of Meier Skis in Denver, at my art show with Harman Projects at Mirus Gallery. Ted gave me a tour of the legendary Meier Factory. It is an entirely unique experience, where a visitor can sit at the rustic but modern bar in the middle of the amazing ski shop, drink a local pint of brew, and watch skis being pressed in the workshop through a large plate glass window. 

Touring the workshop, I was shown the labor-intensive process of turning locally and sustainably sourced wood into skis and boards. The only thing I can compare it to is touring a winery, where the love of craft produces only the best. 

More to the point, I’d compare my tour of Meier Skis to a tour of my print studio. There’s a commitment to hand-crafted artistry in Meier Skis that I recognize in my own work. Teaming up with Meier Skis to produce a Chuck Sperry Artist Series of snowboards and skis, underscores our mutual commitment to artistry and craft. Meier’s use of a blend of beautiful wood makes a gorgeous substrate to my designs, and has an impact equal to my wood panel art prints on skis and boards you can use (by choosing your model) or display (by choosing wall art option). 

Limited Edition of 100 for each ski or snowboard – Available Now!

I hope you enjoy my designs on Meier’s superbly handcrafted skis and boards!

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Sperry at Schneider Museum of Art through April 2023

I’m honored to be exhibiting some pieces at The Schneider Museum of Art.

Pushing the Press: Contemporary Printers Redefining the Medium
January 19 – April 29 

(Opening: Thursday, Jan 19, 5 pm – 7 pm)
Schneider Museum of Art
555 Indiana Street
Ashland, Oregon
(Tues-Sat 10 am – 4 pm)

If you find yourself in southern Oregon this month, pop by this exhibition organized by curator Josef Zimmerman. Featuring works by Bill Fick, Kathryn Polk, Dennis McNett, Electric Calavera, Chuck Sperry, Crystal Wagner, Ravi Zupa and other master print artists, Pushing the Press: Contemporary Printers Redefining the Medium looks closely at what makes printmaking so powerful—it’s an ancient medium (the earliest woodblock print dates to 800 CE!), yet it continuously evolves.

Curated by: Josef Zimmerman

Artists: Bill Fick, Carlos Hernandez, Tom Huck, Dennis McNett, Morning Breath, Inc., Kathryn Polk, Sean Starwars, Chuck Sperry, Crystal Wagner, Ericka Walker, Ravi Zupa

Archives

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

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