Chuck Sperry

By

“Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry” September Book Release at Sperry Exhibition, Fort Wayne Museum of Art

I’m happy to reveal my newest art book for my museum solo exhibition in Fort Wayne, Indiana —

“Chthoneon” will be available at the Opening Party: September 14, 6-9pm!

Stay tuned to my website for more Sperry Museum Solo reveals over the next days!

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.”

Chthoneon (k-THON-ion)
Divine feminine power resides in the earth. Chthoneon refers to that place, the earth, in which this power dwells. 
It’s meaning is also intimate to—however literally—the underground. 

 

 

By

Chuck Sperry in “Litmus Test” Exhibition at Fort Wayne Museum of Art in September

Litmus Test: Works on Paper from the Psychedelic Era

Fort Wayne Museum of Art

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.

By

Chuck Sperry Solo Museum Exhibition at Fort Wayne Museum of Art in September

Chuck Sperry Fort Wayne Museum of Art

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.

Sperry has drawn inspiration for this work from the classical Greco-Roman idea of the muses, and their metaphorical home on Mount Helikon — the source of inspiration for all things art and music. Naiads, nymphs and muses in their richly patterned floral settings make their way into Sperry’s work. Dripping with brightly colored flowers, decked in gold and silver textures, Sperry’s blue-silver muses sing a paean to the long tradition of humanism reactivated in the struggle for social progress, universal human rights, a more perfect democracy and the utopian ideals of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco where Sperry has made his home since 1989.

Symbolism, Secession, ukiyo-e, and psychedelia blend in Sperry’s flattened, post-modern figurative art: all potent ingredients Sperry strives self-consciously to re-evaluate for the 21st Century.

The exhibit will feature 2 large scale tapestries designed by Sperry, 25 screen prints on oak panel, original ink drawings, and ephemeral color progressives which illuminate Sperry’s unique printing process.

There will be several new wood panel editions, and two new paper editions with variant editions available to acquire.

I will be releasing “Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry” the 136 page follow up of my art book “Helikon, The Muses of Chuck Sperry”. 

This exhibition is organized by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and its Curator of Contemporary Art Josef Zimmerman.

______________________________________

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, and face time with the one and only Chuck Sperry!

Printmaking Workshop 1 with Chuck Sperry: September 15, 1:30pm • SOLD OUT

Learn from the singular figure of psychedelic poster printmaking Chuck Sperry with a hand-on workshop. Pre-registration with fee of $30 is required. Fee includes all supplies and your take-home creation.

Printmaking Workshop 2 with Chuck Sperry: September 15, 3:30pm • SOLD OUT

Learn from the singular figure of psychedelic poster printmaking Chuck Sperry with a hand-on workshop. Pre-registration with fee of $30 is required. Fee includes all supplies and your take-home creation.

Curator’s Tour: November 1, 12:15-1pm
Curator of Contemporary Art Josef Zimmerman will lead you on an engaging tour of this exhibit. From specialized and personal points of view, curators offer unique perspectives on all FWMoA exhibits. Tours are free with gallery admission.

By

Sperry “Justice” On View At Fort Wayne Museum Of Art In Permanent Collection

A Year of Making Meaning: New Additions to the Collection 2016
December 10, 2016 – March 5, 2017

“A Year of Making Meaning: New Additions to the Collection 2016 showcases the highlights of works FWMoA has acquired in its permanent collection over the last year.

The artwork selected gives an overview of our recent focus in collecting. While we are always on the hunt for great works of art, our recent collecting focus includes contemporary glass, photography, and painting; all of which is shown in this gallery. This focus is tied directly to our strategic goal of growing the permanent collection with objects of diverse media and maker.

Another aspect highlighted in A Year of Making Meaning is the way in which we expand our collection. Acquisition occurs through gifts or donations from collectors, and purchases directly from artists, galleries, and auction houses.

Through these various avenues of procurement we have opportunities to continually make strategic purchases for the collection. As a museum we are committed to collecting, preserving, and presenting American and related art to engage and educate you, our audience. This exhibition allows us to share with you the numerous works in our collection that may not always be on public display. As our collection grows, we take pride in sharing our treasures with you and future generations of art lovers in our region.” – FWMOA

By

Last Week On View • “Out of Print: Pushing the Boundaries in the Art of Print”, Fort Wayne Museum of Art

ChuckSperry1

Out of Print: Pushing the Boundaries in the Art of Print
Fort Wayne Museum of Art
March 19 – May 29, 2016

Exhibiting artists: Bill Fick, Chuck Sperry, Crystal Wagner, Dennis McNett, Greg Gossel, Morning Breath, Ravi Zupa, and Troy Lovegates.

Printing is one of the oldest forms of art. Woodblock printing was the first to develop as early as 220 A.D. in China. From this point, printing evolved into many forms, most memorably by way of the invention of the printing press around 1440 that served as the most efficient way to educate the masses through newspapers and books.

In all this time the medium is still relevant, but more important, artists are finding new ways with which to use old methods. This exhibition showcases a select handful of artists who are reshaping the old ways into new on multiple levels.

This body of work serves as evidence that traditional printing is far from obsolete, but it will continue to be used and expanded by artists looking for new ways to express themselves: in with the new, and out and with the old.

SPERRY-FWMOA

Archives

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

Latest Blog Posts