Fine craftsmen of subversive propaganda, Ron Donovan and Chuck Sperry have stuffed their rock art portfolios with many of the biggest names in rock and roll. And they have worked for many of the biggest clients in the entertainment industry. Sperry and Donovan have created a much sought-after series of posters for Virgin Megastore (including Pearl Jam, Fleetwood Mac, Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, U2, Madonna, Limp Bizkit, and Hole).
They have also created over 25 posters for San Francisco's own Mexican wrestling extravaganza, "Incredibly Strange Wrestling," which was recruited for the Vans Warped Tour 2001. Other posters have been produced for such legendary performing artists as Queens of the Stone Age, Madness, Jane's Addiction, Supersuckers, Garbage, Bad Religion, Johnny Cash, John Lee Hooker, Lee Perry, Cheap Trick, X, among many others. In 1999 they created a magnificent four piece circle poster for the Tibetan Freedom Concert, and even the Tibetan monks could be counted as their fans.
Ron and Chuck's works are easily recognizable by their unique style of color theory, characterized by the use of metallics over striking colors. Their unique printing technique has won them the attention of the experts in the printing profession and they were included in Print's Regional Design Annual 2002. Poster giants Victor Moscoso, Gary Grimshaw, Stanley Mouse and Alton Kelley have all colaborated on poster projects printed by Firehouse - in addition they have colaborated with well-known peers Frank Kozik and Alan Forbes.
Sperry's career as an illustrator began circa 1985 amid the squats on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC. It was there he and fellow squatters Seth Tobocman and Peter Kuper worked on the biting political comic World War 3 Illustrated. These malcontents tackled topics and issues that haunted the squatters on the Lower East Side (mainly gentrification), at a time and place that served as a diarama representing the struggle between classes world-wide.
After moving to San Francisco in 1988, Chuck's experience as an illustrator, combined with his political fervor, drove him even deeper into the art of "creative disobedience". While in San Francisco, he has been awarded two grants, one from the NEA and Pew Charitable Trust to subsidize a series of shows at the ATA Gallery, titled "Who's the Landlord?," which also included a retrospective on WW3. The other grant was from San Francisco's Haas Foundation for a mural which he painted at the Labor Temple commemorating the legendary leader of the Longshoreman's Union, Harry Bridges, the Labor Council of San Francisco and the 1934 general strike which forever changed the course of labor relations in this U.S.
Over the past ten years, Chuck has contributed stories to Last Gasp Comics & Stories, and was the art director for Filth Magazine (circulation 10,000). Most recently, he has created a controversial album design for Jello Biafra's Spoken Word Album #7, entitled Machine Gun in the Clown's Hand released on Alternative Tentacles in 2002.
Donovan's first footprint on the art world also 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. They staged their first poster show in the campus men's bathroom, when in a covert operation, WANG members screened full color prints directly onto the bathroom walls. At a lunch time opening, art students and faculty were invited to mingle and admire the prints (much like a normal art opening?) except that the sinks were used for beer coolers and the trash bins for chips'n'dip.
Ron and his fellow WANGsters also screened a popular poster and T-shirt collection called Reaganwear, which boasted such slogans as, "I Can't Remember," "I'm Not a President (But I Play One on TV)," "CIA Vacation" and the ever-popular "More Arms, More Hostages." The collection was available at Pipe Dreams on Haight, the Reprint Mint on Telegraph as well as direct through WANG during their frequent class-ditching excursions to Sproul Plaza.
Prior to co-founding the Psychic Sparkplug in late 1994, Ron had become known endearingly as the "Duke of Haight Street", where he'd set up office at Copy Central, tirelessly knocking out 8 1/2 x 11 flyer copy for the venues "Kennel Club" and "I Beam" as well as for many local bands. He also designed a much sought after collection of over 60 posters for San Francisco surf music legends, "The Mermen" as well as covers and layouts for two of their CDs.
The two artists met in a chance encounter at Comic Relief in the Upper Haight, where Sperry was in charge of public relations for that comic book store. Soon after discovering that they'd both landed their first jobs designing Fillmore posters for Bill Graham Presents within weeks of each other, Ron invited Chuck to join Psychic Sparkplug. A year later, the team collaborated with Gary and Laura Grimshaw to present the first of two "Temporary Insanity Shows" at Off the Wall Gallery on Haight Street. The show featured Victor Moscoso, Coop, Kozik, Kuhn, Hess and Mats?!, and gave Psychic Sparkplug a much needed boost in the public eye. Later that year, they were involved in the dedication of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, another pivotal moment in their careers.
Now, after having worked together for over eight years, the Firehouse team is rock solid and only gaining momentum. Their latest tour in Europe boasted 26 shows in 30 days - a whirlwind book release campaign that brought them to the capitals of Europe and across 5 countries.
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