MOMENTARY BLASTS OF UNEXPECTED LIGHT: THE VISIONARY ART OF BURT SHONBERG

MOMENTARY BLASTS OF UNEXPECTED LIGHT: THE VISIONARY ART OF BURT SHONBERG

– Hansell Gallery Opening Event Q&A + Screening

Sponsored by Office of Nithya Raman, Los Angeles City Councilmember 4th District

and the Los Angeles Breakfast Club

PRS and Stephen Romano Gallery (based in Brooklyn, New York) are thrilled to co-present “Momentary Blasts of Unexpected Light: The Visionary Art of Burt Shonberg,” a major exhibit of the artworks of Burt Shonberg (b. March 30, 1933 - d. September 16, 1977) in PRS’s Hansell Gallery.

Shonberg was one of the premiere psychedelic and esoteric artists in Los Angeles in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a close friend and associate of artist, poet, and actress, Marjorie Cameron. Shonberg also embraced the Fourth Way system of Gurdjieff, and his canvases began to reflect the mystical illumination inspired by his higher states of consciousness. His work was prominently featured in Roger Corman’s Vincent Price-starring horror film The Fall of the House of Usher 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.

Please join us for the Opening Night of the Shonberg exhibit in the Hansell Gallery, followed by a live conversation in the PRS Auditorium between collector, curator and Shonberg expert Stephen Romano from his home in Brooklyn, along with acclaimed author and Shonberg biographer Spencer Kansa (Out There: The Transcendent Life and Art of Burt Shonberg) from his home in England (both joining via live video), and film historian & author Justin Humphreys (George Pal: Man of Tomorrow) here in L.A..

Followed by a rare screening of the documentary OUT HERE: A FILM ABOUT BURT SHONBERG (2012, 78 min., dir. Marshall Berle), a fascinating portrait of Shonberg and the late 1950s / early 1960s L.A. bohemian underground that he was part of, featuring interviews with Shonberg friends including actor Sally Kellerman, screenwriter George Clayton Johnson (Twilight Zone, Logan’s Run), filmmaker Berle and others.

"In the year 1957. in Los Angeles, California, I had my first dramatic experiences beyond the limits of so- called ordinary, everyday consciousness...

"Every day, for seven years straight, I was hit by a number of widely-separated, momentary blasts of unexpected light.

"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"

The Burt Shonberg Exhibit is presented with the generous sponsorship of the Office of Nithya Raman, Los Angeles City Councilmember 4th District and the Los Angeles Breakfast Club.

Stephen Romano Gallery is located in Brooklyn, New York with a collection of esoteric art works championed by gallery owner, Stephen Romano. Romano is a collector, curator, and private art dealer. He has collaborated with Met Museum NYC, Reina Sophia Madeid, Gagosian Gallery NYC, Buckland Museum of Witchcraft, GalleryX Dublin and Morbid Anatomy Museum, Brooklyn. Stephen Romano Gallery continues to curate exhibitions in New York mixing contemporary, folk, historical and ephemeral artwork.

Websites:

Burt Shonberg - https://burtshonberg.com/

Stephen Romano Gallery - http://romanoart.com/

The exhibit and Q&A + Film are free events with RSVP.

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

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Host or Publisher The Philosophical Research Society