Chuck Sperry

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Faya Gallery – 211 Elizabeth – Closing Party – Friday, September 24, 2010

The show at Faya Gallery, 211 Elizabeth Street in New York City was a total blast. The show is still up until September 26, and there’s a closing party on Friday, September 24 from 6 pm to 10 pm. Chris and I will not be able to attend, but it’s sure to be a great time! I was very happy to be back on the Lower East Side for the opening. The Faya Gallery’s location is beautiful, in North Little Italy, and the hospitality of gallery owner John Scalise and his partner Rob and friend Cervantes was great. Here’s a cool picture of John and Cervantes:

Chris Shaw showed his new paintings and they are gorgeous. I love his canvases; I’m a proud owner of some of his paintings. Chris is just a top-notch painter, and fun guy to hang out with. Take a look at his beautiful canvases here:

Carlo McCormick – Senior Editor of “Paper” – showed up at the opening and introduced me to Hubert Kertzschmar the album art designer of Rolling Stones’ “Some Girls”. The above photo is courtesy Carlo McCormick (with Hubert’s camera).

Novelist Charles Bock came to the opening and we caught a coffee together (next day) near his writing office on Union Square, NYC. It was really great to catch up with Charles and share the last year of experiences with him. I designed the cover for the paperback edition of his novel “Beautiful Children.”

I had a great time with Seth Tobocman, editor of World War 3 Illustrated magazine. Seth and I worked as co-editors in the 1980’s on World War 3. The magazine is still going strong after 25 years. And I contribute to this day. There will be a retrospective of WW3 in which I’m included at EXIT Art Gallery in NYC early next year.

On our free day Chris and I rolled around New York City. I was a little tired – with the Dylan release just before my trip – and it’s kind of hard to get sleep when your head is hanging over the traffic…

…And there’s an incredible rat problem downtown.

Chris and I had a great time together. The show was a big success! We spent part of our free day by going to this great paint pigment store on the Lower East Side – to pick up raw / mixable paint pigments for our paintings and prints. Dropped some serious cash on metallic and opalescent pigments that will mirror the metallic effects of my printing in acrylic paint for the canvases and to print with. I used to live across the street from this store and it was a pleasure to be back in the hood. Thanks to John Scalise and everyone at Faya Gallery!

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Power to the Peaceful – Saturday, September 11, 2010

Here’s a preview of my Power to the Peaceful 2010 poster. I printed these yesterday so they are ready to go when I return from my New York City show at Faya Gallery. It’s been a very busy going from my successful releases of Crowded House and Bob Dylan while getting ready to fly out for my opening in the Big Apple. I lived on the Lower East Side when I was just starting out, working on World War 3 Illustrated magazine, so it’s going to be great to see old friends again!

I fly back to San Francisco on Friday just in time to rest up a little, and stroll over to Speedway Meadow Golden Gate Park for Michael Franti and Spearhead’s Power to the Peaceful concert on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 10 am to 5 pm.

I’ll be releasing my poster live at the show on Saturday the 11th (from 10 am to 5pm) at the festival merchandise tent which is in the mid-point of Speedway Meadow on the left (as you are facing the stage). Come early these sell out quickly every year.

Then the next day, I’ll be making a very limited online release of this poster on Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 12 noon PST.

Power to the Peaceful 2010 Poster

Michael Franti & Spearhead, Rebelution, Crystal Bowersox, Rupa and the April Fishes, Sallassie, Sambada, Loco Bloco

20 x 35

Edition of 250

6 Colors on archival cream paper

Signed and Numbered

SOLD OUT

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Faya Gallery – New York City – Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Faya Gallery, 211 Elizabeth Street, New York City, has invited Chris Shaw, Chuck Sperry and Peter LeCompte to exhibit their newest work through the month of September. The opening is on Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 6pm to 9pm. Sperry will be showing his newest poster work, Chris Shaw will be showing his newest paintings, and Peter LeCompte will show his newest hand-painted silkscreen pieces.

This exhibition is a fusion of the rock poster aesthetic and fine art.

In Chris Shaw’s work the rock poster aesthetic informs the painting medium; there is a mash-up of bold psychedelic poster stylings with very painterly techniques informed by Renaissance styles of picture-making and subject matter.

Peter LeCompte is like a DJ who orchestrates pre-arranged musical samples into a continuous mix while also highlighting their obscure connotations. Le Compte juggles memory and color into what appear to be the solidified icons of a recovered happiness – they hark back to the more anxiety-free days of our collective pre-Vietnam war childhood.

Chuck Sperry brings his masterfully created silkscreened rock posters, resonating with the styles drawn from the poster art form’s long tradition – ranging from the roots of the poster tradition in Art Nouveau and Vienna Secession style to Psychedelic, Rock, Punk, Post-Punk, Grunge, Stoner and Pop. In Sperry’s work you can trace the history of the poster medium from the end of the 19th Century to the beginning of the 21st.

Archives

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

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