Chuck Sperry

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Edwardian Ball 2018 Poster

Edwardian Ball 2018
15 x 35
Edition of 125
3 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!

________________

This poster is officially available at the show in LA. I will be making a very limited online release of this poster on Sunday, February 11, 2018 at a random time.

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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.

My poster this year is a fanciful portrait of famed New York titan and oligarch, John Jacob Astor IV, with his pregnant, 18 year old, newlywed wife Madeleine — during their deliciously scandalous honeymoon to France and Egypt — on an evening walk outside the Paris Opera sometime before returning to America aboard the Titanic.

The wealthiest man aboard the doomed ship, and with $25,000 cash discovered frozen in his pocket, Astor went down with the ship. A cautionary tale for the Trump Era.

Read more about Chuck Sperry & his newest art book here

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Edwardian Ball 2017 Poster

Edwardian Ball 2017
15 x 35
Edition of 125
3 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!
_______________

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.

This year my poster depicts Cupid & Psyche, the belle of the ball and her accomplice, looking for her next intended target.

By

Edwardian Ball 2016 Poster

Edwardian Ball 2016 event poster by Chuck Sperry

Edwardian Ball 2016
18 x 35
Edition 0f 125
3 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

(One random order will receive a bonus, free, give-away B&W Test, Edwardian Ball poster, the “White Russian”)

Sold Out – Thank You!

_______________

This poster is officially available at the show. I will be making a very limited online release of this poster on Sunday, January 24, 2016 at a random time.

_______________

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.

This year I’ve depicted Russian mega-oligarchs, Tsar & Tsarina, Nicholas and Alexandra. 100 years ago, they had one good year left before the Communists swept them away. We find them, lounging in state dinner attire, a pair of rare white tigers settled at their feet. The background is Rosslyn Chapel. The Russian says, “Tsar, have a nice trip! See ya next Fall!”

By

Edwardian Ball 2015 Poster

EDWARDIAN COLOR WEB

Edwardian Ball 2015
20 x 35
Edition of 125
3 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Sold Out – Thank You!

________________

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.

My balance toward the subject, elicited a Jordanian princess and her French noble husband to buy and frame my Edwardian Ball poster from 2011. They invited me for drinks on one of my trips to France. As they explained to me, “You must understand, we are decedents of this world, and even we think this world is outdated and bizarre. I’m impressed how you balanced your view of it, to depict its elegance and outrageousness at the same time. It’s exactly the alienation we feel towards this past.”

I told them I was coming at the problem from the other direction, as a critique, and we laughed. I told them that I was still a warrior for the working class. Sometimes these worlds collide in rock and roll.

In this poster I depict King Edward VII, as a Masonic Zombie, supreme in his oligarchic entitlement, one hand on his sword (might at the ready) the other subduing his trained ape (the artist). The setting is British Imperial India, the colonies, and a map shows the imperial campaign: “Civilization” wages war against “Savages, Trolls, and The Great Unwashed.”

In this period of unfettered worldwide oligarchy, is it any wonder us apes are getting restless?

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Edwardian Ball 2014 at The Regency Poster

EDWARDIAN-BALL-2014-WEB

Edwardian Ball 2014 at The Regency
Two-sheet Silkscreen Poster
20 x 58
Edition of 125
Each part is 3 colors on archival cream paper
Signed and Numbered (matched numbers top and bottom)

Sold Out – Thank You!

___________

I had a lot of fun making this design, and it’s always a pleasure to work with Justin Katz, Edwardian Ball impresario!

This two-sheet poster is a match to my 2011 Edwardian Ball poster, so now there are 2 times, two-sheets for this remarkable, annual event. Two-sheet posters were used for public advertising in Edwardian times, so it’s fun (and ever so appropriate) for me to revisit this format.

THE EDWARDIAN BALL is an elegant and whimsical celebration of art, music, theatre, fashion, technology, circus, and the beloved creations of the late, great author Edward Gorey. Set in Edwardian times, this multi-media festival has grown over the past decade from a small underground club night into an internationally recognized event, even earning the blessing of The Edward Gorey Charitable Trust.

Costumed and enthusiastic attendees, traveling from as far as Australia, Japan, and the UK, flock to this San Francisco tradition for a delightful blend of ballroom dancing, live music, riveting stage shows, DJs, fine art galleries, a vending marketplace, absinthe cocktails, steam machinery, parlour games, sideshows, and more. All ages are welcome and appropriate in this darkly humorous and elegant setting, where literary aficionados rub elbows with insect-like creatures parading on stilts where historically-accurate Edwardian recreationists waltz by a steam-powered tea garden where the only guiding rule is that you join in on the fun!

The Edwardian Ball has been called the quintessential must-not-miss event of the year, a defining annual San Francisco tradition, and literary circus of the highest caliber for good reason, come see for yourself!

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

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