La Luz de Jesus Gallery was formed in 1986, the brainchild of entrepreneur and art collector Billy Shire, as a challenge to the "aristocracy" of the L.A. art scene. Called "the Peggy Guggenheim of Lowbrow" by Juxtapoz Magazine, Shire originally conceived of La Luz de Jesus to exhibit the work of his friends and others he felt weren't getting the recognition they deserved in the mainstream art world. It has since become the core of an original new art movement in Los Angeles, one that can be seen incorporating folk art, outsider, prison, hot rod, comic book, and religious art, tattoo flash, pin-ups, posters, sign paintings and illustration. The objective of the Gallery has always been to "bring underground artists and counter culture to the masses," and to these ends La Luz has helped to spur the careers of a number of now widely recognized artists, such as Joe Coleman, Georganne Deen, Manuel Ocampo, Neon Park, and Robert Williams.

The exhibition features the work of over forty artists from throughout the La Luz legacy, including Bill Barminski, Sandow Birk, Joe Coleman, Georganne Deen, Mary Fleener, Don Ed Hardy, Krystine Kryttke, Manuel Ocampo, Gary Panter, Pizz, R. K. Sloan, and Robert Williams. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue published by Smart Art Press.

smart art press catalogue