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Want a vintage ‘Star Wars’ poster? The ‘Pop Art Photo Show’ offers rare look at classic entertainment ephemera

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Geek out on a mother lode of pop culture ephemera.

The “Pop Art Photo Show,” a temporary exhibit and sale at Santa Monica’s Barker Hanger, will showcase vintage movie posters, fine-art prints, music, fashion and celebrity photography and midcentury car concept drawings from Sept. 27 to Sept. 30.

Staged by Limited Runs, an online retailer of pop-culture art, the exhibit features more than 350 rare items organized by titillating themes including “Art of Bond: 50 Years of James Bond” and “In a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Star Wars,” plus the “Dawn of Nostalgia” vintage movie poster collection of director Zach Merck, whose father amassed thousands of the colorful creations during his time as a manager for a movie theater chain.

There are also plenty of photos, including a collection of celebrity and fashion shots by Len Steckler; the celebrity collection of Milton H. Greene, who snapped more than 50 sessions with Marilyn Monroe; and images by Dennis Morris, who worked closely with the Sex Pistols and Bob Marley and the Wailers.

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Classic car fans can also get a fix with a selection of original concept car art from the 1940s through the 1980s.

Limited Runs founder Pierre Vudrag is a fan and a collector himself. He said he’s excited to see these items all in one space together, but he can’t bring himself to pick a favorite. Vudrag does highlight a few artists of particular interest, including Steckler, whose collection, “Mad to Mod,” dates from 1959 to the mid-1960s.

“It shows the shift in women’s fashion from conservative to the swinging ’60s,” he says. “It’s a drastic shift that really seemed to happen in the span of a few years.”

There is also a poster from the 1971 James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever,” measuring more than 6 feet tall, that he is particularly fond of.

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“We just had it restored, and it’s so stunning,” he says. “It’s one of those images that just grabs you.”

For more information and to purchase tickets to the show, go to www.popartphotoshow.com

jessica.gelt@latimes.com

@jessicagelt

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