Billy Al Bengston&raquo;Pacific Standard Time at the Getty

Delve into the postwar Los Angeles art world in this online archive, which provides additional material related to the exhibitions on view at the Getty Center. Learn about hipsters and happenings, and the venues across the city where all the action took place through images from the archives and first-hand accounts with the artists.

Billy Al Bengston
Artist

Billy Al Bengston’s studio at Clark Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, 1957. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston

Billy Al Bengston (born 1934) is a flamboyant character who, beginning in the late 1950s, combined art with professional motorcycle racing and quickly became a key player in the Ferus Gallery circle. He had five solo shows at Ferus from 1958 to 1963, as well as a major exhibition at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1968. The motorcycle imagery in several early works associated Bengston with West Coast Pop, as did his use of techniques and materials drawn from custom-car and motorcycle culture, while the polished surfaces he achieved with spray lacquer also connected him to early conceptions of Finish Fetish.

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Sonny, 1961, Billy Al Bengston. Oil on Masonite. 36 x 36 in. Billy Al Bengston Studio Holdings. © Billy Al Bengston. Photo by Brian Forrest
Big Jim McLain, 1967, Billy Al Bengston. Polyurethane and laquer on aluminum. 60 x 58 in. Collection of Joan and Jack Quinn. © Billy Al Bengston

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Video: Irving Blum, John Mason, and Billy Al Bengston speak about the work of Peter Voulkos, 2010–11
Video: Billy Al Bengston speaks about his work, March 2010
Billy Al Bengston’s studio at Clark Street and Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, 1957. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston on a his BSA Victor motorcycle in the Ballona Wetlands, Marina del Rey, California, 1966. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston
A resin painting by Ed Moses in an exhibition at Billy Al Bengston’s Artist Studio, 1970. © Ed Moses. Photo by Billy Al Bengston. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston Art
Billy Al Bengston’s studio at Clark Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, 1957. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston
Billy Al Bengston polishing an artwork, 1963. © Billy Al Bengston. Image courtesy of Marvin Silver and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. © Marvin Silver
Poster for The Studs group exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1964. Image courtesy of Hal Glicksman
Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, and Ken Price outside Hotel Caesars in Tijuana, Mexico, 1968. Image courtesy of Larry Bell
An exhibition at Billy Al Bengston’s Artist Studio, with works by Ed Ruscha, Peter Alexander, and John McCracken, 1970. Image courtesy of Billy Al Bengston
Artists outside the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1959. Clockwise from top: Billy Al Bengston, Irving Blum, Ed Moses, and John Altoon. Photo by William Claxton. Courtesy Demont Photo Management, LLC.