Chuck Sperry

By

Free University Art School – Fourth Demonstration / Documentation

Winston Smith’s class was not only informative, but extremely fun! Vale played straight man while Winston brought the house down with his quick wit, sharing his many years making some of San Francisco’s most inventive, challenging and subversive art. Winston shared so much cool art and so many hilarious stories during this class. Winston has a non-stop creative genius. Be sure to check out his books at Last Gasp. Lawrence Colacion snapped these pictures while the class progressed. Thanks to Winston and Vale for making this an historic occasion, enlightening The Free university Art School, and showing that true art can be purposeful and fun at the same time.

By

Free University Art School – Third Demonstration / Documentation

The first five week course offering for The Free University Art School was completed last Sunday, April 3, 2011, with Jon-Paul Bail’s presentation of a personal history of Oakland Street Art. Fitting perfectly into the Free University Art School’s step-by-step art of the street approach, the sweep and course arch of the four presentations:

1. Chris Shaw and I present Rock Art, and demonstrate printing techniques.

2. Blek le Rat – speaks to three decades of street art, defines the state of the art both high brow and low brow, and produces a stencil painting live.

3. Winston Smith – discusses his life and art, with me and Vale of RE/Search Magazine as moderator. Winston explored the long San Francisco tradition of DYI and punk art.

4. Jon-Paul Bail’s story of Oakland and San Francisco street art from 1980’s to present. I moderated and Ron Donovan printed JP’s street piece.

Jon-Paul culminates his class – and the Free U Art School first five weeks – by leading our class down Valencia Street in the Mission of San Francisco to make art on the street. We pasted Winston Smith’s Nuclear Scream, a reaction to the Japanese nuclear disaster.

Thanks everyone who came to learn, who came to teach, and for keeping the dream alive.

By

Winston Smith at The Free University Art School

The Free University of San Francisco aims to make the highest level of education available, completely free, to any individual who wants it, regardless of color, creed, age, gender, nationality, religion or immigration status—a university free of money, taught for free. The only requirement for membership is a desire to teach and/or a desire to learn.

Winston Smith, Free University Art School Event

Sunday, March 27, 2011 – 2PM to 4PM

Viracocha

998 Valencia Street (at 21st Street)

San Francisco, CA

__________________________________________________

Course Description:

The Free University Art School is very proud to present Winston Smith, world famous punk artist. Winston Smith will speak about his life, his work, and share his insurgent punk collage art with the class. The second half of the class will be a collage workshop with Winston providing some cut-ups and clippings from his image library – the class is invited to make their own collaborative creation.

Come early / limited room!

Bio:

Winston Smith (born May 27, 1952) is an artist who primarily uses the medium of collage. He is probably best known for the artwork he has produced for the American punk rock group  Dead Kennedys.

Smith is particularly known for his collaborations with Jello Biafra and Alternative Tentacles for whom he has done numerous covers, inserts, advertisements, flyers, and logos. He is responsible for the famous Alternative Tentacles logo as well as the well-known Dead Kennedys logo and six of their record covers. One of his compositions, “God Told Me To Skin You Alive” was used as the cover of  Green Day’s album “Insomniac.”

His name is a reference to the character of the same name in George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty Four. Smith left the U.S. in 1969 to study art in Italy and, struck by the profound social changes that had occurred during his absence from the U.S., adopted the name after returning to America in 1976.

In Italy, Smith attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence studying classical Renaissance Art and later won a scholarship to study Cinema at the International University of Art (Florence & Rome). For a few years he traveled throughout Italy, roadie-ing for well-known Italian jazz band Perigeo. Over the last 30 years, Winston has had numerous one-man shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Antwerp, Berlin and Rome.

His work has been included in numerous books chronicling the punk rock era as well as having his work included in art text books plus several book covers, such as Greg Palast’s best-sellers “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy” and “Armed Madhouse”. In addition, Winston has designed over 50 record covers including covers and insert art for Jello Biafra, Burning Brides, George Carlin and Ben Harper.



By

Free University of San Francisco, School of Art

The Free University of San Francisco aims to make the highest level of education available, completely free, to any individual who wants it, regardless of color, creed, age, gender, nationality, religion or immigration status—a university free of money, taught for free. The only requirement for membership is a desire to teach and/or a desire to learn.

We believe that the purpose of education is not to turn the student into a better consumer and profit-earner but to help him or her to discover the wealth of human culture upon whose shoulders she or he stands. What we share at the Free University of San Francisco is a passionate determination to see the restoration of humanity—warm, literate, democratic—to vibrant human life. And in order to achieve this aim we have taken hold of the very hub of our culture, which is education, in order to create a brand new kind of institution, one whose existence makes no sense in the current social order, one that stands in direct defiance of the privatized profit-oriented social engineering centers that pass for universities today.

We are the Free University of San Francisco and we are rebels of knowledge.

This course will offer courses, lectures and demonstrations in the field of  visual arts, those arts which seek to enlighten, inform and entertain with common sense imagination in populist mediums.

Sunday, March 6, 2pm – to – 4 pm • Chuck Sperry, Ron Donovan, Chris Shaw

Sunday, March 27, 2pm – to – 4 pm • Winston Smith

Sunday, April 3, 2pm – to – 4 pm • Jon-Paul Bail and special guests

 

By

“American Artifact” Poster Documentary at The Roxie SF

amart33

There’s another chance to see American Artifact here in San Francisco, tonight, Wednesday, October 28 at 7 pm.

I’ll be participating in a Q&A after the show. Hope to see you there!

–

SAN FRANCISCO DOC FEST, CA:


Wednesday, October 28 (7pm)

Roxie Cinema

3117 16th St.

San Francisco, CA 94103

tickets: $11

The screening 10/28 (7pm). Film screening / Q&A with special guests Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan from Firehouse, Dennis Loren, Winston Smith, Chris Shaw, Paul Imagine, and more.

Archives

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

Latest Blog Posts