Chuck Sperry

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  • Books: Color x Color • Helikon • Chthoneon • Idyllion

January 15, 2022 By squirt

Looking Forward in 2022, A Grateful Mahalo


Here are two of my top posters from last year. (Please take a visit to the definitive poster website www.Expressobeans.com and place your vote for Poster of the Year.)

2021 was a big year for me, full of strong rock posters and desirable art prints and panels and blockbusting shows (art and rock). I’m so very grateful for my supporters and friends who made this most difficult pandemic year into an inspiring journey of creation and new directions.

Hashimoto Contemporary featured my work at Context Art Miami / Art Basel, and swiftly sold out all. Thanks to the gallery, it’s amazing curators and staff – but more importantly – thank you for your support, traveling from all points to be there!

Back home from France to San Francisco. Happy to kick off 2022. I’m excited by the projects in planning! 

I’m eagerly awaiting – and preparing for – my sweeping retrospective exhibition at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art. Can’t wait to see everybody, and share new works, pay tribute to all the work that brought me to today, participate in discussions and workshops. I’ll be showing up in Indiana with some surprises!

Lastly, Color x Color will be presented in a third edition (two editions having sold out), each and every stunning page, still at 752 pages. I’m grateful for it’s success, and your reception of it! Thanks to the kind reviews and support of the San Francisco Chronicle, KQED Arts, Juxtapoz, Hi-Fructose, 7×7 — Having reached the #1 spot on Amazon in Individual Artist Monographs, #2 in Printmaking, and #4 in Rock Music, Color x Color matches the successes of the big publishers by every measure, and that is due to you my supporters!

All my books are again available for you to take home HERE on my website and HERE on Amazon worldwide.

 

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Art Basel Miami, Bill Kreutzmann, Billy & The Kids, Billy Strings, Chthoneon, Chthoneon The Art of Chuck Sperry, Chuck Sperry, Context Art Fair, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, FWMOA, Hashimoto Contemporary, Helikon, Helikon The Muses of Chuck Sperry, Muses, Pythia

December 1, 2019 By squirt

Sperry Featured with Spoke Art at Art Basel / Context Art Miami

Spoke Art is pleased to announce our return to Miami for the eighth year in a row exhibiting during Art Basel Miami! Join us this December at CONTEXT Art Miami where we will be exhibiting featured bodies of work by Chuck Sperry and Dan Lam as well as a group exhibition of over forty exciting contemporary artists!

Chuck Sperry – Digging into the archives we are able to offer sold out panel editions from the artist’s illustrious career, before releasing several brand new panels and prints on paper. Archive panels will go on sale Tuesday the 3rd. New panels and prints on paper will be made available on Saturday the 7th.

Hebe, 2019
20 x 29
Edition of 30
7 colors on oak panel
Signed and Numbered

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Harmonia, 2019
20 x 26.75
Edition of 30
6 colors on oak panel
Signed and Numbered

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Chloris, 2019
33 x 20
Edition of 30
7 colors on oak panel
Signed and Numbered

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Dreamer, 2019
21 x 31
Edition of 150
7 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Variants on holographic sparkle foil, holographic lava foil and satin black

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Dan Lam – We will be exhibiting an assortment of recent drip and blob sculptures in the artist’s truly unique style. Always a favorite with audiences, Lam’s work pairs grotesque form with alluring color, creating a dichotomy that begs for closer inspection.

Group Exhibition – We are pleased to present a group exhibition featuring fifty exciting new contemporary artists working in a variety of media. Exhibiting artists include So Youn Lee, Aaron Nagel, Buff Monster, Nicomi Nix Turner, Eelus, Petites Luxures, Scott Scheidly, AJ Masthay, David Welker, Alex Garant and Scott Listfield.

Visit us at Booth C1 this December in Miami or if you can’t make it in person, check out the online preview here!

CONTEXT Art Miami
One Herald Plaza
NE 14th Street, Miami FL

December 3rd  – 8th, 2019

Platinum VIP Preview: Tuesday, December 3rd from 4:30 – 6:00pm
VIP Preview: Tuesday, December 3rd from 6:00 – 10:00pm
General Admission: Wednesday – Saturday from 11am – 8pm, Sunday from 11am – 6pm

More info about the fair here. To inquire about available works or complimentary tickets, please email Spoke Art at nyc@spoke-art.com.

Filed Under: Art Prints Tagged With: Aaron Nagel, Aj Masthay, Alex Garan, Art Basel, Art Basel Miami, Buff Monster, Chuck Sperry, Context Art Fair, Dan Lam, David Welker, Eelus, Nicomi Nix Turner, Petites Luxures, Scott Listfield, Scott Scheidly, So Youn Lee, Spoke Art

December 3, 2018 By squirt

“The Seer” Sperry’s New Art Print to Debut at Spoke Art at Context / Art Basel Miami

The Seer
21 x 31.5
Edition of 150
7 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Variant editions of Gold, Silver, Black, Holo Sparkle Foil, Holo Lava Foil

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I am incredibly excited to be returning to CONTEXT Miami with Spoke Art Gallery this year for Art Week! Spoke Art will be bringing phenomenal new and recent works by Scott Scheidly, Dan Lam, Chuck Sperry and Scott Listfield.

Visit us at Booth C102 this week in Miami or if you can’t make it in person – check out the online preview here!

Also make sure to visit sister gallery @hashimotocontemporary at booth #C115

Platinum VIP Preview: Tuesday, December 4th from 4:30 – 5:30pm
VIP Preview: Tuesday, December 4th from 5:30 – 10pm
General Admission: Wednesday – Saturday from 11am – 8pm, Sunday from 11am – 6pm

More info about the fair here. To inquire about available works or complimentary tickets, please email us at info@spoke-art.com.

I am also excited to release my brand new piece – The Seer on Saturday, December 8th starting at noon!

I will also be signing copies of my new book Chthoneon, and Spoke Art will have a limited number of The Oracle wood panel pieces available at that time. Additionally, Spoke Art will have a few archive panels available starting Tuesday evening during the Platinum and VIP openings.

There will be no pre-sales or shipping from the fair for Chuck Sperry’s panels or prints. Any remaining new works will be available online following the fair. Each buyer will be limited to one “The Oracle” panel, one archive panel, one regular paper edition of “The Seer” and one variant paper edition of “The Seer”. 

Read More at Spoke Art

The Oracle

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Art Basel Miami, Chuck Sperry, Context Art Fair, Dan Lam, Scott Listfield, Scott Scheidly, Spoke Art

November 27, 2017 By squirt

Sperry’s New Art Print at Art Basel Miami / Context Art Fair with Spoke Art Gallery

The Ostracon by Chuck Sperry

The Ostracon, 2017
20 x 34
Edition of 150
7 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered
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I will be making a very limited release of “The Ostracon” and it’s variants, my fourth and final Jerry Garcia portrait, with a very special book signing of “Helikon”  – Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 2 pm – through Spoke Art Gallery at Context Art Fair during Art Basel Miami.

Please visit us at Spoke Art Booth C133!

Read More: Sperry’s beautiful new art book, “Helikon, The Muses of Chuck Sperry” (2017)

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Notes on “The Ostracon”

Ostrakon. (in ancient Greece) a potsherd, especially one used as a ballot on which the name of a person voted to be ostracized was inscribed.

“At any time, by a majority of votes written secretly upon potsherds (ostraka), the Assembly, in a quorum of six thousand members, might send into exile for ten years any man who in its judgement had become a danger to the state. In this way ambitious leaders would be stimulated to conduct themselves with circumspection and moderation, and men suspected of conspiracy could be disposed of without the law’s delay.”

— Will Durant, The Life of Greece, The Story of Civilization, Part II

While working on my book “Helikon” my work has been driven and inspired by the spirit of the ancient Greek muses and Greek mythology; Greek myths fill my art and my printmaking with theme and motif.

My creative roots are in the San Francisco poster movement which began in the utopian spirit of social experimentation in the Haight-Ashbury, where I live today. I look sometimes at my early rock poster work through be-mused glass; music was viewed as “therapy” by the Greeks. Confirmation that the ancients were well-attuned. Anyone who knows the rock concert experience as I do, knows rock fans feel this way still today.

Art for music concerts is a popular business, something with which the fine art world may be uncomfortable. In a democracy full of popular businesses, Art recently realizes it is also one. I hope my art serves as a democratizing influence in the sphere of fine art and in the culture at large.

Since the election of November 2016, I’ve refocussed on my political motivations, and I’ve aimed to make a social impact with my work. Following the popularity of my 2011 Occupy poster “This Is Our City, And We Can Shut It Down” I created a related typographic propaganda poster for the Women’s March of January 2017, “Resist Sexism, Racism, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Ignorance, Corruption and Hate.” 

I made another poster which became emblematic of the March for Science of April 22, 2017.

I was pleased to see that my March for Science posters reached the lectern of the demonstration where keynote speaker Bill Nye posed with NASA astronaut Leland Melvin alongside my poster image. My Women’s March poster and my Occupy poster were recognized by inclusion in the United States Library of Congress and in exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. It’s sincerely gratifying to receive  institutional recognition, but the pressing point is to open minds and to inspire participation in our democratic society.

Long ago as a teen I was packed off to college with Will and Ariel Durant’s eleven volume “Story of Civilization” by my enlightened parents who felt these books a necessary provision for well-rounded citizenship. I am always most drawn to volume 2, “The Life of Greece.” I re-read this book constantly.

The Will Durant passage above — which describes the ancient Greek institution of democratic ostracism — was part of my inspiration for my newest art print “The Ostracon.” His words describing ancient greek polity spark thoughts of a vibrant, if messy and flawed, democracy. Today’s news is filled with a similar vibrance and messiness: impeachment, investigations, and a series of scandalous banishments. American democracy has been going through unimaginable upheavals in the last year; ostracism is in the air.

In researching more deeply into ostracism, I encountered the words of august archeologist Professor John McK Camp II, Director of the Agora Excavations of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and professor of classics at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, Virginia. I contacted him to ask permission to attach his words to my art; he generously agreed. Prof. John Camp offers — in a spirit of openness and possibility — the concept of democratic ostracism as an interesting solution in this peculiar era of American democracy:

“The United States has borrowed lots from the ancient Greeks, including such bedrock items as architecture, the Olympics, coinage, theater, and, most important, the concept of democracy. Visitors to Athens can still view the official drinking cups and tableware used in the 5th century BC, when legislators were wined and dined at state expense. Not much, in fact, has changed since antiquity except the technology.

“One aspect of ancient political life has not been adopted, however, and perhaps it’s time to bring it back: ostracism. Once a year the Athenians would meet and vote on a simple question: Is anyone aiming at a tyranny, is anyone becoming a threat to the democracy? If a simple majority voted yes, then they dispersed and reassembled two months later. They brought with them their ostracon (a fragment of pottery), on which they had scratched the name of the person they thought represented a threat. The man with the most votes lost. He was exiled for 10 years, and this was thought to calm any anti-democratic leanings he might have.” 

— John McK Camp II,

(From “Ostracized in Athens,”  The New York Times, July 24, 2003 by permission of the author)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Art Basel, Art Basel Miami, Chuck Sperry, Context Art Fair, Helikon, Helikon The Muses of Chuck Sperry, Spoke Art

November 14, 2017 By squirt

Jerry Garcia “Built To Last” Limited Edition Print by Chuck Sperry

Jerry Garcia Winter by Chuck Sperry

Jerry Garcia (Winter), 2017
21 x 32
Edition of 500
9 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

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Introducing “Built To Last”, the fourth and final print in our portrait series with acclaimed artist Chuck Sperry. A limited edition run of 500 prints will be released at GarciaFamilyProvisions.com between 2pm EST and 5pm EST on Tuesday, November 21st. As with prior releases, prints will be restricted to 1 print per fan/household. Subscribe to the Jerry Garcia Newsletter at JerryGarcia.com to be among the first to receive notice when the prints are released.

The Fourth and final in a series of four screen-prints from renowned artist Chuck Sperry celebrating Jerry’s life and legacy. Each print is signed & numbered by the artist in an edition of 500.

“My fourth and final print in my portrait series, “Jerry Garcia (Winter)”, seeks to capture the wisdom and compassion of the Grateful Dead’s lead guitarist. Jerry anchored the concert hall with his good nature, while a wild, free improvisation swirled through him and around him. I wove a psychedelic paisley pattern throughout the design – and running through the iconic black t-shirt area as a matte and glaze black effect – rendered in nine colors, including bright hues, hand-blended metallics and translucent glazes. My aim is to portray the evolved Jerry, the enlightened artist who radiated peace, wisdom and compassion, and made music that was “Built to Last” – Chuck Sperry

I will be making a very limited release of my fourth and final Jerry Garcia portrait, a very special book signing of “Helikon”, and multiple print and wood panel releases – Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 2 pm – through Spoke Art Gallery at Context Art Fair during Art Basel Miami.

As an added bonus, the Dead & Co will be performing in the Miami area the next night (Friday), so twice as many reasons to come join us in Miami for a fun art-filled weekend!

Read More: Sperry’s beautiful new art book, “Helikon, The Muses of Chuck Sperry” (2017)

Filed Under: Art Prints Tagged With: Art Basel, Art Basel Miami, Chuck Sperry, Context Art Fair, Helikon, Helikon The Muses of Chuck Sperry, Jerry Garcia

Latest News

  • Chuck Sperry Teams Up with Meier Skis
  • Sperry at Schneider Museum of Art through April 2023
  • “Idyllion”, a Chuck Sperry Solo Exhibition and Book Signing in Geneva
  • “Idyllion”, a Chuck Sperry Solo Exhibition & Book Signing in Paris
  • TRPS Is Back! Festival of Posters ’22

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About 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. Learn More…

Archives

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

Latest Blog Posts

  • Chuck Sperry Teams Up with Meier Skis
  • Sperry at Schneider Museum of Art through April 2023
  • “Idyllion”, a Chuck Sperry Solo Exhibition and Book Signing in Geneva
  • “Idyllion”, a Chuck Sperry Solo Exhibition & Book Signing in Paris
  • TRPS Is Back! Festival of Posters ’22

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