Signs of Change: Chuck Sperry & Ron Donovan January 16, 2009

Varnish greets 2009 with Signs of Change: Chuck Sperry & Ron Donovan
Signs of Change: Chuck Sperry & Ron Donovan
January 13 – February 14, 2009
Opening Reception Friday January 16, 7-10pm

The Signs of Change show of recent original works and ultra-limited editions by Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan of the Oakland-based Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company will feature works on canvas, steel, wood and paper. The show will also include the debut exhibit of the entire Firehouse Goldenvoice series #1 - #25, encompassing Rock Art posters produced for the Warfield Theatre and Regency Grand Ballroom in San Francisco from September through December 2008.
Prolific rock art poster creators Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan opened The Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company together in the late ‘90’s. Since its inception they have created roughly 500 posters of their own design in addition to printed posters for Frank Kozik, Rick Griffin, Stanley Mouse, Alton Kelley, and Victor Moscoso. Sperry and Donovan’s artwork churns within the pages of a half-dozen books, including a monograph of Firehouse artwork, and they are featured in the soon-to-be-released documentary film “American Artifact” which chronicles the rise of American rock poster art since its birth in the ‘60’s. Sperry and Donovan have created posters for a multitude of pop and rock music artists such as Eric Clapton, Ozzy Osborne, U2, John Lee Hooker, Madonna, MC5, and Tool.
Informed by earlier days as a political cartoonist, Chuck Sperry’s keen interest in political art imbues his work with dynamism and commentary, using postmodern tools of the trade. Incorporating images from B-movies, gossip magazines, covers of cheap crime books, and film noir adds to Sperry’s visual lexicon. The bad-boy of Bay Area poster making, Ron Donovan’s first footprint on the art world came in 1985, when he co-founded We Are Not Gentlemen (WANG), a cadre of infamous art saboteurs, headquartered at the California College of Arts and Crafts. For the last 2 decades Ron has created hundreds of cutting-edge rock posters, all the while spilling spurious political propaganda.

** Varnish Fine Art is a 21+ only venue. No children or babies, please.

Official Website: http://varnishfineart.com