 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
The Story of Firehouse Europe | |
|||||||||||||
|
"Rock posters have become an international phenomenon, crossing borders and leaping into cyberspace. They have broken down old prejudices and national boundaries where diplomacy has failed. Speaking directly to the people, they have truly become one of the first globally accepted populist art forms." - Dennis King, Art of Modern Rock The Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company - which is based in San Francisco, California - has opened a second, new print studio in Milan, Italy in 2006. This new project - Firehouse Europe - is a bold new endeavor for artists at the Firehouse. Ron Donovan and Chuck Sperry have been touring Europe with their beautiful and unique serigraphic rock posters - making inspiring and enjoyable art happenings and poster shows since 1999. In the last 6 years they have visited Europe at least 7 times and done nearly 100 shows from Belgrade, Yugoslavia to Paris, France and everywhere in between. This has been an eye-opening and mind-expanding experience for Sperry and Donovan - but these last 6 years have begged the question: "When will you move to Europe?" Reaching across the globe to make art shows and exchange ideas with people around the world has been a signature of the Firehouse Kustom Rockart Company. On their 2005 tour - "The Art of Modern Rock World Tour" - Firehouse, along with Lindsey Kuhn, Derek Hess and Jay Ryan did 20 shows across Europe to release the new definitive poster anthology "The Art of Modern Rock" edited by Dennis King and Paul Grushkin (published by Chronicle Books, SF). Sperry and Donovan of the Firehouse were instrumental on previous European tours - in contacting and collecting the posters of European artists for inclusion in this "Bible" of the poster arts - The Art of Modern Rock ... And this fact elicited the authors to inscribe the very last words in this book with: "This book could not have been produced without...Ron Donovan and Chuck Sperry at Firehouse who've done so much to spread the spirit of the movement and have always kept it real" Due in part to Firehouse's efforts, these European artists are found in the pages of AOMR: Matteo Guarnaccia, Italy Giampo Copparoni, Italy Malleus, Italy Robert Butler, Switzerland Dirk Bonsma, Switzerland Michel Cassaramona, Switzerland Martin Infanger, Switzerland Philipp Thoeni, Switzerland Lars P. Krause, Germany Danny F. Criminal, Germany On their 2005 tour Firehouse exhibited with all the artists listed above at numerous shows along the tour. It is their hope that they will continue to exhibit with these artists - and also produce work in collaboration with these artists as they open their new shop Firehouse Europe on the continent of Europe. "This global expansion has been aided by American artists like Lindsey Kuhn, Frank Kozik, Ron Donovan, and Chuck Sperry. They have acted as ambassadors of silkscreen printing, taking their work to Japan and Europe, teaching others how to print, and freely sharing information and tricks of the trade." - Dennis King, Art of Modern Rock Sperry with the help of Italian Co-ordinator Sefano Calori aka VANDALO - will do just that by continuing to be ambassadors of their art form - and also by being the first to establish a print studio overseas to teach the art of rock posters and produce new work from a second overseas locale. |
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||||||
|
|  |
|
