Billy Al Bengston

1934 Born, Dodge City, Kansas

EDUCATION

1952 Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, California

1955 California College of Arts and Crafts (now California College of the Arts), Oakland, California

1956 Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California

PRIMARY WORK EXPERIENCE

1956 Studio Artist, Venice, California

1961 Instructor, Chouinard Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts), Los Angeles, California

1962-1963 Lecturer, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

1967 Guest Artist, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma

 

Primarily known as a painter, Billy Al Bengston started his artistic career as a ceramic artist. Shortly after leaving the Los Angeles Art Institute where he studied with Peter Voulkos, Bengston shifted his focus toward painting, although he continued to make some ceramic works. He was affiliated with the influential Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles where he had five solo shows from 1958-1963. Bengston's work often incorporates motifs from motorcycle subculture, surfing and west coast pop-culture.

Public Collections

Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), Los Angeles, California

American Federation of Arts, New York, New York

La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, California

University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California

Pasadena Art Museum, Pasadena, California

Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, California

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, New York

Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, New York

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, Texas

Newport Harbor Art Museum, Newport Beach, California

Bibliography

Coplans, John. Abstract Expressionist Ceramics: Art Gallery, University of California, Irvine, October 28th to November 27th, 1966 : the San Francisco Museum of Art, January 11th to February 12th, 1967. Irvine, California: University of California, Irvine, Division of Fine Arts, 1966.

Monte, James K.. Billy Al Bengston. Los Angeles, California: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1968.