The first exhibition of the artist’s works in Los Angeles in over 50 years, he was introduced to the occult by follower of Thelema Marjorie Cameron with whom he had an affair beginning in 1957.
The exhibition will feature an image of the lost painting Burt Shonberg made for Roger Corman’s 1962 film “The Premature Burial”, which was never seen in it’s entirety in the film. The original painting is whereabouts unknown, presumably lost or destroyed. Courtesy of David Del Valle.
Burt Shonberg title unknown circa 1958 – 1961 formerly in the collection of George Clayton Johnson Marjorie Cameron “Sphinx #4” ND. courtesy marc selwyn fine art
“M0MENTARY BLASTS OF UNEXPECTED LIGHT: THE VISIONARY ART OF BURT SHONBERG” PRESENTED BY THE PHILOSOPHICAL RESEARCH SOCIETY AND STEPHEN ROMANO GALLERY OCTOBER 24 – DECEMBER 21
-THE FIRST EXHIBITION OF THE ARTIST’S WORKS IN LOS ANGELES IN OVER 50 YEARS.
-THE EXHIBITION WILL INCLUDE MANY NEVER BEFORE SEEN WORKS.
-THE ARTIST IS FURTHER CELEBRATED WITH A CATALOG WHICH INCLUDES ESSAYS BY THE LATE ROGER CORMAN, BURT SHONBERG BIOGRAPHER SPENCER KANSA, FILM HISTORIAN JUSTIN HUMPHRIES, INDEPENDENT CURATOR ROBERT COZZOLINO AND ART HISTORIAN AND DOCUMENTARIAN BRIAN CHIDESTER.
-THE EXHIBITION OPENING WILL FEATURE A SCREENING OF THE FILM “OUT HERE – A FILM ABOUT BURT SHONBERG” BY MARSHALL BERLE (FORMER MANAGER OF SPIRIT, RATT AND VAN HALEN) AND AN ONLINE CONVERSATION BETWEEN STEPHEN ROMANO, JUSTIN HUMPHRIES AND SPENCER KANSA (registration is free here!).
Excerpt from a five panel suite Burt Shonberg executed for GAMMA Magazine Vol. 1 No 2 1963
“There are, of course, certain things that one experiences in the transcendental state that are not possible to communicate in the usual way, so new types of parables would have to be created to get the message through. These discoveries I refer to could be insights or revelations into various aspects of the world we live in, nature, the mind itself, time, the universe, reality and God.” — Burt Shonberg, excerpted from “Out Here: A Brief Account of How This All Began for Me”
PRS is proud to present “Momentary Blasts of Unexpected Light: The Visionary Art of Burt Shonberg” at Hansell Gallery, opening Thursday, October 24, 2024.Shonberg was one of the premiere psychedelic and esoteric artists in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a romantic partner of artist, poet, and actress, Marjorie Cameron, as well as a close friend of renowned writers Hampton Fancher (Blade Runner) and George Clayton Johnson (Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Logan’s Run).
Burt Shonberg title unknown (known as Lucifer in the Garden) 1961 formerly in the collection of George Clayton Johnson
Shonberg also embraced the Fourth Way system of Gurdjieff, and his paintings and drawings began to reflect the mystical illumination inspired by his higher states of consciousness. A user of psychedelics since the mid 1950’s, in the early 1960’s, Burt Shonberg enlisted in LSD experiments of Dr. Oscar Janiger at University of California Irvine. The conveyance in his art of altered cognition and perception of hallucinatory states became a primary pursuit for Burt throughout his life as an artist.
Burt Shonberg title unknown 1948 an apparent depiction of Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, considered sacred by Northern Plains Indians and indigenous people.
Exhibition producer Stephen Romano of Brooklyn New Yorks says;
“One of my earliest recollections, and a pivotal moment in my evolution, was when at the age of ten, in our frigidly cold basement in Montreal, I snuck downstairs at midnight on a Saturday evening to watch on our cheap small black and white TV the midnight showing of Roger Corman’s masterpiece adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”. As a young artist, I was simply awe-struck by the impact of the psychological and emotional power the art brought to the storytelling, and how the art in this film opened for me a whole new world of the esoteric and surreal. It was only to be 40 years later that Brian Chidester walked into my gallery in Bushwick Brooklyn, and showed me who auteur was. The father of Los Angeles psychedelic art, modern-day healer, sorcerer, and medicine man.. a true witch who had “knowledge, will, courage, and silence”*, Burt Shonberg.”
His work was prominently featured in Roger Corman’s Vincent Price-starring 1960 horror film ‘The Rise and The Fall of the House of Usher” and 1962’s “The Premature Burial”, and on the walls of venues like the long-gone, bohemian Laguna Beach coffeehouse Café Frankenstein. His paintings of mythical creatures in fantastic landscapes have only recently begun to attract the attention they deserve. From the late 1950s until his premature death in 1977, Shonberg was a highly admired artist of his time in Los Angeles.
During this period, his eye-popping murals graced the facades and interiors of popular coffeehouses and clubs along the Sunset Strip. His paintings also adorned notable rock album covers by bands like Love and others.During his lifetime Shoberg was managed by Marshall Berle (who also was a manager for Spirit, Ratt and early Van Halen). Shonberg’s only exhibition of his art occurred in 1967. The only other exhibition of his art occurred posthumously to great acclaim in 2022 at the Buckland Witchcraft Museum in Cleveland. Ringo Starr has been a long time collector of the artist’s work.This will be the first exhibition of Burt Shonberg’s art in Los Angeles over 50 years, and will include many works never seen before by the public.
An exhibition catalog which will include new images and essays on the artist will be available.
Model Freddie posing in the interior of the Cafe Frankenstein in Laguna Beach CA, circa 1958-60. The cafe was owned by Burt Shonberg, folk singer Douglas Meyer and screenwriter George Clayton Johnson. excerpted from “ESCAPADE magazine” 1958
Exterior of Cafe Frankenstein in Laguna Beach, California which existed from 1958 – 1960.
production still from Roger COrman’s 1962 film “The Premature Burial” depicting Burt Shonberg’s painting, Thank you to Instagram’s insearchofpaganhollywood !
The exhibition will feature an image of the lost painting Burt Shonberg made for Roger Corman’s 1962 film “The Premature Burial”, which was never seen in it’s entirety in the film. The original painting is whereabouts unknown, presumably lost or destroyed. Courtesy of David Del Valle.
The art and life of Burt Shonberg is the subject of a book written by Spencer Kansa.
The Philosophical Research Society 3910 Los Feliz Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027 Tel 323 663 2167 info [at] prs.org Covid Protocols
The Philosophical Research Society 3910 Los Feliz Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90027 Tel 323 663 2167 info [at] prs.orgCovid Protocols
The Philosophical Research Society Hansell Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Friday 12-6pm and by appointment (info@prs.org)
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