Jordan Belson: Films Sacred and Profane

Jordan Belson: Films Sacred and Profane
1959-2005/color/16mm & digital/70 min.

Born in Chicago and raised in the Bay Area, Jordan Belson trained as a painter before turning his attention to filmmaking after discovering the abstract films of Oskar Fischinger, Norman McLaren and Hans Richter. Since 1947, Belson has explored consciousness, transcendence, and light in a visionary body of work that has been called "cosmic cinema": brimming with vibrant color, mandalas, liquid forms and mesmerizing rhythms. Starting in 1957, Belson collaborated with sound artist Henry Jacobs on the Vortex Concerts, multimedia events that combined new electronic music from around the world with Belson's visual effects projected on the 65-foot dome of the California Academy of Science's Morrison Planetarium. Tonight's program features rarely screened films including Caravan (1952), Séance (1959), a new preservation print of Chakra (1972), and more, including Belson's latest film, Epilogue (2005), funded by the NASA Art Program and commissioned by the Hirshhorn Museum. Presented in association with Center for Visual Music.

Introduction by: Cindy Keefer, archivist and curator, Center for Visual Music.