Jordan Belson
"Back to the Future", 2006
Pastel and prismacolor over archival inkjet print on Hahnemuhle paper
Unframed: 7 x 5 inches (17.8 x 12.7 cm)
Framed: 12 x 9 inches (30.5 x 22.9 cm)

Selected by Olivia Shao

Jordan Belson (1926–2011) was born in Chicago and raised in San Francisco. A seminal figure in twentieth-century avant-garde cinema, Belson studied painting as a young man, receiving a degree in studio art from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1946. He initially achieved some success as a painter, exhibiting his work at SFMOMA and the Guggenheim Museum in the late 1940s. After 1950, however, he focused primarily on filmmaking, and although he continued to make paintings and drawings for the remainder of his life, he never exhibited this part of his work again during his lifetime. His pioneering approach in film and art bridged an equal commitment to science and mysticism. “I’m trying to make pictures that teach you about a knowledge that is beyond words,” Belson said. “The image as a container of wisdom and knowledge.”