Richard Sperry - About the Artist
Photo of Richard Sperry

Born in 1964, in a western suburb of Chicago, Richard now resides in St. Charles, Illinois. At an early age he was encouraged by enthusiastic art teachers. He began drawing at age six and painting in his teens. He has taken art classes through out his education and attended workshops and colleges, including the Art Institute of Chicago. Richard is primarily self-trained, and attributes much of his working knowledge to the comprehensive art and design related vocations to which he has gravitated. He is inspired by various artists, primarily Pollock and Van Gogh. Of the latter he states, "There is a truth to his approach and what he conveys". Also, contemporary impressionists and friends, David Hettinger and Leonard Wren, who's influence has been invaluable. Of them Richard says several years ago and on separate occasions they each said "something basic yet profound, I start each painting as an abstract. It seemed to me that they were painting a painting, rather than a subject first." This struck a resonate chord and changed the approach to his own work.

The artist considers himself a modern abstract expressionist and states, "It is nature in all its symbiotic relationships that inspire my interpretation of every day life". He adds, "and I have experiment with mediums, sheens and patterns to echo rhythms of that nature". More than painting a person, place or thing, Sperry creates emotionally charged layers of textures, colors and images that are raw, spontaneous and often stream of consciousness. "I splash, splatter, flick, fling, drip, pour, and carve the paint with a palette knife enhancing each piece with brush work to create a fractal sense of depth," often juxtaposing archetypal imagery. Whether he is painting representational work or not his subject and technique give each work a sense of universal relation and power.  Richard's use of color is often dark, muted, rich and earthy. He begins each piece as a three color splash painting. By applying glazes and metallic highlights he creates a luminescent surface that shifts with changing light or angle. This characteristic allows varying perceptions for the viewer.

Richard is a member of the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society, Chicago Artists Coalition, as well as the Dupage and Naperville Art Leagues. He has exhibited and shown his work throughout the Chicago land area. Sperry has participated in art festivals, private one man shows, and been represented by area galleries since 2005. He has earned several awards of merit in local juried exhibits, works been reviewed in the June 2007, Chicago Free Press. His paintings have been well received by the community. He now has coast to coast collectors and enthusiastically looks toward the future.