Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston | |
---|---|
Born | Dodge City, Kansas, U.S. | July 7, 1934
Died | October 8, 2022 Venice, Los Angeles, California, U.S. | (aged 88)
Known for | Painting |
Billy Al Bengston (June 7, 1934 – October 8, 2022) was an American visual artist and sculptor who lived and worked in
Early life and education
Bengston was born in
Career
Bengston began showing with the
After seeing the work of Jasper Johns at the 1958 Venice Biennale he adopted the motif of a set of sergeant's stripes. This recurring chevron image was painted with industrial materials and techniques associated with the decoration of motorcycle fuel tanks and surfboards.[10] According to Grace Glueck of The New York Times, Bengston "was among the first to ditch traditional oil paint on canvas, opting instead for sprayed layers of automobile lacquer on aluminum in soft colors, achieving a highly reflective, translucent surface."[11]
Bengston encouraged viewers in the early 1960s to associate his art with motorcycle subculture; on the cover of a 1961 catalogue for a Ferus show, he was seen straddling a motorcycle. (He also competed in motocross competitions.)[12] "When I painted these motorcycle paintings", Bengston later recalled, "I pissed people off beyond belief. I don't know why. They are just paintings. You don't have to look at them."[13] Bengston also created humorous posters and advertisements for exhibitions which pulled on imagery of the film industry; and he distributed surveys soliciting "the question you would most like to have answered" (1970) and "I'm stuck, $10 for your idea ... for an exhibition mailer or announcement" (1973).[14] "A quality of the expansiveness of the physical environment as well as some of the brittle gloss and gaudiness of the aggressively manmade Los Angeles environment is acutely condensed in his work", John Coplans wrote in Artforum in 1965.[13]
Thomas E. Crow drew attention to the deliberate contrast between Bengston's flamboyant, competitive, aggressively masculine stance and his delicate, modest approach to his art.[10] Silhouettes of iris flowers, for instance, figure prominently in Bengston's paintings. In the 1960s, he often painted a single centrally placed flower (as he also did with the chevron), thus upending the widely held notion that putting an object in the center of a canvas should be avoided at all costs. "I've been doing that ever since year one", he said of this practice, "ever since I learned you shouldn't do it."[15] During the 1970s, Bengston began using multiple iris silhouettes, often surrounded by overlapping circles, as in Canopus Dracula (1977) in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art.[16]
Bengston's spare compositions and elaborate yet untraditional processes caused some observers to associate him with the Finish Fetish movement, whose practitioners typically created sleek, smooth works.[13] A 1967 review in Artforum noted that "Bengston's technique of spray application of lacquer has always appeared fresh, unique, and superb in its variety and complexity." The artist heightened the effect with unusual textures, as in his well-known "Dentos", works in which the aluminum upon which he created imagery was dented in unpredictable patterns.[17]
Exhibitions
Bengston's first solo exhibition was at
Permanent collections
Bengston's work is included in a number of permanent collections including the
Representation
Bengston is represented by the Various Small Fires gallery in Los Angeles and had exhibitions/representation in New York with the following galleries:
Personal life
Billy Al Bengston died at the age of 88, on October 8, 2022, at his home in Venice and is survived by his wife of 28 years, Wendy Al, and their daughter, Blue Tica Bengston and grandchildren Billy Agnes and Hugo Ace Du Celliee Muller. During the last few years of his life, he suffered from dementia and was the subject of a Silver Alert in November 2021, but after remembering his phone number was found happily holding court in the lobby of a Marina Del Rey Hotel. In spite of his struggles with dementia, he continued to paint up until his death and had an exhibition of his new work at Various Small Fires in Los Angeles in March 2022.
References
- ^ "Billy Al Bengston (American, 1934–2022)". Artnet. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ Greenberger, Alex (9 October 2022). "Billy Al Bengston, Giant of Los Angeles's Postwar Art Scene, Dies at 88". ARTnews. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ Glueck, Grace (18 May 2001). "Billy Al Bengston—'Dentos and Draculas, 1968–1973'". Art in Review. The New York Times. Section E, page 29. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ Williams, Alex (October 20, 2022). "Billy Al Bengston, Painter Who Channeled California Cool, Dies at 88". The New York Times. Retrieved October 20, 2022.
- ^ a b Gelt, Jessica (October 10, 2022). "Billy Al Bengston, Ferus Gallery pioneer and purveyor of custom car culture, dies at 88". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ Ludel, Wallace (October 10, 2022). "Billy Al Bengston, painter who epitomised the visual lexicon of California culture, has died, aged 88". The Art Newspaper. London. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ISBN 9781606060728.
- ^ "How the Campbell's Soup Paintings Became Andy Warhol's Meal Ticket". Vanity Fair. 5 November 2018.
- ^ "An L.A. Art Story". Los Angeles Times. 22 September 2002.
- ^ ISBN 1-85669-426-7
- ^ Glueck, Grace (18 May 2001). "ART IN REVIEW; Billy al Bengston – 'Dentos and Draculas, 1968–1973'". The New York Times.
- ISBN 0-520-24460-5
- ^ a b c "Billy al Bengston, Giant of los Angeles's Postwar Art Scene, Dies at 88". 10 October 2022.
- S2CID 192205983.
- ^ "Q&A: Ed Ruscha & Billy al Bengston on art, friendship and their new show in South Korea". Los Angeles Times. 7 March 2019.
- ^ Honolulu Museum of Art wall label, Canopus Dracula by Billy Al Bengston, 1977, acrylic on canvas, accession 2014-15-01
- ^ "Billy al Bengston's "Dentos"".
- ^ Otis College of Art Alumni Listing, accessed Aug 4, 2007 Archived August 18, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Art review: Billy al Bengston at Samuel Freeman Gallery". 19 February 2010.
- ^ "Howling at the Moon Doggie", LALA Magazine, February 2017
- ^ "California Dreaming: Ed Moses, Billy Al Bengston & Ed Ruscha". New Britain Museum of American Art. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ "Billy Al Bengston". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ Bauerlein, Mark, ed. (2008). "National Endowment for the Arts: A History 1965– 2008" (PDF). National Endowment for the Arts. p. 21. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ "Billy Al Bengston Biography". Artnet. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ "Billy Al Bengston". John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
- ^ Bengston, Billy Al. "Solo Exhibitions". LABORATORY BILLY AL BENGSTON 1934 –. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
External links
- BillyAlBengston.com
- Billy Al Bengston, Various Small Fires
- Billy Al Bengston, VENUS over Manhattan
- review in New York Times
- Billy Al Bengston in ArtForum
- Billy Al Bengston Papers at the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art
- Billy Al Bengston – Artist on KCET Departures Venice
- Decorative Arts: Billy Al Bengston and Frank Gehry discuss their 1968 collaboration at LACMA
- 5 Reasons Why He's Billy Al Bengston and You're Not – PAVED