Jordan Belson (1926-2011)

Jordan Belson was an American artist and filmmaker celebrated for his abstract and spiritually oriented films, which left a lasting impact on avant-garde cinema. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Belson studied painting at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1946, he encountered the works of abstract filmmakers such as Oskar Fischinger and Hans Richter at the “Art in Cinema” screenings at the San Francisco Museum of Art, inspiring his shift from painting to film. Belson’s early works, including Mandala (1953), used animation to explore abstract forms, and his collaboration with sound artist Henry Jacobs on the “Vortex Concerts” (1957–1959) at San Francisco’s Morrison Planetarium pioneered immersive audiovisual experiences. His later films, notably Allures (1961) and Samadhi (1967), drew on Eastern philosophies and mystical themes, employing innovative light and color techniques to create meditative visual experiences that explore consciousness. Although he withdrew from public life in the 1980s, Belson continued his work in near-seclusion, creating art until his death in 2011. His films remain influential, inspiring generations of artists and filmmakers interested in the intersections of spirituality, abstraction, and cinema.