Late L.A. artist Burt Shonberg is getting a long-overdue exhibition, courtesy of Brooklyn’s Stephen Romano Gallery and the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick.
During his lifetime, Shonberg was associated with the artist/occultist Marjorie Cameron, who probably introduced him to the mythos of Aleister Crowley and the ceremonial use of peyote. Shonberg later participated in 1960 in the experiments of Dr. Oscar Janiger, who was testing the effects of LSD on the creative mind. Notable to horror fans, Shonberg’s art was prominently used in Corman’s classic films House of Usher (1960) and Premature Burial (1962).
Burt Shonberg “Lucifer In The Garden” 1961 on view at the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft.
The exhibition opens on August 17th and continues through November 1st, 2021. The exhibition is curated by historian, documentarian, and longtime Shonberg advocate Brian Chidester. It is accompanied by a catalog, the first ever exclusively devoted to Shonberg’s art, with an essay (also by Chidester), an introduction by Minneapolis Institute of Art curator Robert Cozzolino, a director’s foreword by Steven Intermill of the Buckland, and contributions by Shonberg’s friend Marshall Berle, screenwriter/former Shonberg roommate Hampton Fancher, and esteemed filmmaker Roger Corman, previewed here exclusively.
For more details, please visit the official event website.
Thank you Rocco Thompson and Rue Morgue! Thank you for being a part of Burt Shonberg having his day in the sun!! We are thrilled to have you premiere Roger Corman’s eloquent words about Burt !! Thank you so much !!