Chuck Sperry

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“Pythia” Blotter Art Release & Book Signing at Haight Street Art Center

Pythia, 2023
9 x 6.25
Edition of 200
Perforated blotter paper
Signed and Numbered

Join me for an “in-person” book signing and blotter release at the Haight Street Art Center this Sunday, April 23, 2023. 

I’ll be making a very limited release of my Pythia blotters in collaboration with Shakedown Gallery with the support of the Haight Street Art Center at this event. In addition, I’ll be signing my books: “Color x Color: The Sperry Poster Archive, 1980-2020”, my 750 page career spanning retrospective, and my muse books “Idyllion”, “Chthoneon” and “Helikon”.

Haight Street Art Center
215 Haight St (at Laguna)
San Francisco, CA 94102

Sunday April 23, 2023
12 noon to 1 pm: Haight Street Art Center Members Only.
1 pm to 4 pm: General Public

Become a member HERE

From the Haight Street Art Center concerning the show:

Kaleidoscope Eyes: Celebrating The 80th Anniversary of Bicycle Day Through Blotter Art

On April 19th, 1943, Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann intentionally ingested a small amount of LSD and then rode his bicycle home, experiencing history’s first intentional LSD trip. He later described the experience as “a remarkable and memorable day.”

In subsequent decades LSD moved from laboratories to the streets and was often circulated via perforated sheets of paper known as “blotter paper,” frequently adorned with colorful designs and unique symbols. The art served as both an ad hoc form of branding and created a playful connection between the distributor and the intended audience.

In the 1980s blotter art began to be collected and displayed as a form of underground folk art, particularly due to the zealous enthusiasm of collector and counterculture archivist Mark McCloud.

The Kaleidoscope Eyes exhibit brings together pieces of historical blotter art with pieces from modern screenprint masters and popular rock artists alongside pieces signed by internationally-renown psychedelic luminaries and even some pieces from the legendary Institute of Illegal Images amassed by McCloud.

We’re excited to be partnering with Shakedown Gallery in our retail space and will be offering limited edition signed and unsigned Blotter art through the run of this exhibit.

Also showing: 

• Olga Spiegel: Pioneer in Psychedelic Art 

• The Haight-Ashbury Experience and the Pursuit of Happiness: The Photography of Herb Greene

• Enough Is Enough: End Gun Violence

• Via Dolorosa, The 14 Stations of Tyre Nichols by John Mavroudis

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“Idyllion, The Art of Chuck Sperry” Book Release Events

Published by Hangar 18
Interview by Steven Heller
Essay by Josef Zimmerman, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Curator of Contemporary Art
Hardback Second Edition of 1500 / “Silver Edition”
Silver embossed cover (comes shrink-wrapped / not signed or numbered / only sign in-person at events)
9 x 12 inches / 136 pages
60+ color illustrations
Printed and bound in the United States
ISBN: 9780998140780

Published by Hangar 18
Interview by Steven Heller
Essay 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
60+ color illustrations
Printed and bound in the United States
ISBN: 9780998140766

________________

Hangar 18 is very pleased to announce the upcoming release schedule of Chuck Sperry’s newest book “Idyllion”, the prolific artist’s fourth book in five years.

“Idyllion, The Art of Chuck Sperry” continues the poetic journey started by Chuck’s previous companion books “Helikon, The Muses of Chuck Sperry” and “Chthoneon, The Art of Chuck Sperry”. 

“Idyllion” collects 29 gorgeously photographed new Sperry screen printed art works paired with the prose or poem — from Hesiod to Maynard James Keenan — that inspired each. 

The reader is also offered insight into Chuck’s latest political poster in support of the Equal Rights Amendment campaign with an extensive interview of Sperry by graphic design legend Steven Heller. The interview — accompanied by beautiful photographs by Shaun Roberts — follows the artist at work from the production process to launching the poster.

“Idyllion” is overflowing with evocative and inspiring new work from one of America’s most popular, outspoken and important contemporary artists.

Book signing events:

Denver

Friday, September 30
Mirus Gallery / Harman Projects
1144 Broadway

San Francisco

Saturday, October 15
The Rock Poster Society
Hall of Flowers, Golden Gate Park

Geneva

Thursday, November 3
Legend Art Gallery
Place du Marché 23, Carouge, Switzerland

Paris

Friday, November 11
L’Oeil Ouvert Gallery
1 rue Lucien Sampaix, Paris, France

Online sale begins:

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Have a look inside:

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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.

 

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Chuck Sperry x Spoke Art at NYCC • “Pythia” Art Print Release

Pythia, 2021
30 x 22.5
Edition of 250
7 colors on cream paper
Signed and Numbered

Variants: Sparkle Foil, Lava Foil, Satin Black, Gold and Silver

“Pythia” will be available at New York Comic Con at Spoke Art booth 1572 starting Thursday when doors open.
Spoke Art will make a very limited online release on the following Thursday, October 14, 2021. 

I am pleased to announce that I will be releasing my newest art print, “Pythia”, at Spoke Art’s live appearance at New York Comic Con this coming weekend. 

The New York Comic Convention has been a great forum to release new muses. I released “Clio” (2019), “Truth” & “Beauty” (2018), “Demeter” (2017), “Dryad” (2016), and “Justice” (2014) at NYCC through all through Spoke Art – all signature, highly desirable prints. My wood panel art print of “Justice” was acquired by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in 2017. My large-scale, hand-woven tapestry of “Demeter” was acquired by the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in 2018. I love this electrical arc between popular art and fine art institution.

Read HERE to find out about Spoke Art’s amazing release schedule – exciting updates and announcements – for this year’s NYCC!

Find out more • Buy Chuck Sperry’s art books here • 1000+ pages of beautiful art and inspiration.

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“Empathy” Art Print Wins Award

My “Empathy” Art Print from 2020 has been voted Poster of the Week by Expressobeans members. Thanks to all my supporters, I super appreciate it! Many thanks to Expressobeans.com. 

“My current work has much more to do with symmetry and proportion, color and balance. It’s a utopian provocation; while the present era couldn’t be more off balance, more dystopian.  I want my work to provoke meditations and emotional responses to its clear colors, balance and symmetry – to give courage, light and beauty to all of us trapped in an ugly historical moment. I don’t want to fragment my work . . .  not just yet . . . or abstract or dissolve; I think of my work from the last few years as defiant in these dark times. I like to think I give people courage through it. It gives me courage to work on it.” – Juxtapoz Magazine, March 29, 2018

I am making a renewed release of all my books – which are on sale and available again through my site. (also available on Amazon / or by ordering through your local independent bookstore in the US and throughout the world) – Click the link below to purchase through my site:

Chuck Sperry’s books are available HERE

 

Archives

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

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Chuck Sperry