{"product_id":"out-there-spencer-kansa-9781914153327","title":"Out There: The Transcendent Life and Art of Burt Shonberg","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the late 1950s until his premature death in 1977, Burt Shonberg was one of the most highly admired artists in Los Angeles. During this period, his eye-popping murals graced the facades and interiors of popular coffeehouses and hip clubs on the Sunset Strip, his paintings adorned several notable rock album covers, and his haunting portraits featured prominently in Roger Corman's film adaptations of Edgar Allan Poe's \u003cem\u003eThe Fall of the House of Usher\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Premature Burial\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn in 1933, Shonberg grew up in the all-American beach town of Revere, Massachusetts, where, according to his friends, he spent most of his time drawing and indulging in his love of monster movies. After graduating high school, he studied for two years at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and then, after a brief spell in the army, he ventured to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a commercial artist.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSoon after he settled in L.A., Shonberg became the lover of the legendary occult artist Marjorie Cameron who introduced him to the teachings of Aleister Crowley and turned him on to the mind-warping properties of peyote. Shonberg also embraced the Fourth Way system of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, and his canvases began to reflect the mystical illumination inspired by his higher states of consciousness.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 1960, the artist was chosen by Dr. Oscar Janiger to participate in his radical study into the effects of LSD-25 on the creative process. Although Shonberg regarded himself as a magical realist, his remarkable renderings of his hallucinogenic visions led many of his acolytes to regard him as the pre-eminent psychedelic artist of the era, and in the words of his friend and fellow painter Walter Teller, \"Burt was \u003cem\u003ethe \u003c\/em\u003eartist of Laurel Canyon.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet despite his popularity and status, Shonberg's artistry has been criminally overlooked in all historical accounts of the Southern Californian art scene, until now. \u003cem\u003eOut There\u003c\/em\u003e redresses this injustice and brings some long-overdue recognition to L.A.'s greatest lost artist in a book illustrated with rare examples of his incandescent artwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Spencer Kansa\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1914153324\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781914153327\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Mandrake\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/31\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 320\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 8.50w x 0.87d","brand":"Spencer Kansa","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":50664499511551,"sku":"9781914153327","price":50.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/out-there-spencer-kansa-9781914153327","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}