La Luz de Jesus

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La Luz de Jesus Gallery was established in 1986 in Los Angeles, California as the brainchild of entrepreneur and art collector Billy Shire. The original gallery was located on Melrose Avenue in a bright pink building (with cool murals) upstairs from Shire's groovy merchandise stores the Soap Plant and Wacko. At the time, People Magazine featured Shire and his gallery in a feature on this budding "trendy" neighborhood. Soon, the street was packed and a whole new hipster culture was created, Billy Shire is largely credited with spawning the entire trend.

As well, Shire is considered largely responsible for fostering a new school of art in Los Angeles prompting Juxtapoz Magazine to dub him "the Peggy Guggenheim of Lowbrow."

Later on, as Melrose Avenue became synonymous in name with the TV soap opera "Melrose Place" and in spirit with money-grubbing, scene-seeking imitators, Billy Shire closed shop and reopened in the Los Feliz / Silverlake district on Hollywood Boulevard near Vermont Avenue. Shire and his La Luz de Jesus Gallery are credited with providing both a space and support for a generation of young artists who continue to grow and impact art perceptions, not to mention the collective unconscious. Shire's vision has been so influential, he was honored with a tribute exhibition at Track 16 Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California in 1998 and he has been interviewed by everyone from Better Homes And Gardens to The Wall Street Journal.

The gallery opens a new exhibit every month, with an opening reception that Details Magazine calls "the biggest and best party in Los Angeles." La Luz de Jesus showcases mainly figurative, narrative paintings, and unusual sculpture. The exhibitions are considered post-pop; the art content ranges from folk art to outsider art to religious to sexually deviant. The gallery's main objective is to bring underground artists and counterculture to the masses.

Some of the past shows have been groundbreaking, introducing unknown artists who have become great names in the modern art world. La Luz de Jesus helped to establish artists such as Manuel Ocampo and Joe Coleman, and hosted Robert Williams' art exhibits before he became a household name.

In April 2005, Shire opened a second gallery, Billy Shire Fine Arts in Culver City, California.