Big Jim McLain
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
On View at the Getty Center: Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970
Billy Al Bengston was labeled a Pop artist in the early 1960s because of his use of recognizable signs and icons in his work. Yet he also participated in the growing attraction of L.A. artists to custom-car finishes and other industrial materials and processes. In 1966, Bengston began a series of paintings called the Canto Indentos, or the Dentos for short, that would occupy him for the next five years. In works such as Big Jim McLain, titled after the 1952 John Wayne movie, Bengston pummeled sheets of aluminum with a ball-peen hammer to create creased and dented surfaces that he sprayed with layers of lacquer. He blocked out chevrons and other shapes with adhesive tape, and finished the works with a coat of clear polyurethane. The installation of the Dentos at the Riko Mizuno Gallery in 1970, in which they were lit only by candlelight, drew attention to their sculptural presence as well as the alterable nature of their appearance when seen under different lighting conditions.
Exhibition audio: Bengston talks about his work in Los Angeles.
Exhibition audio: More about Bengston’s technique
Works of Art
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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
Explore the Archive
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Video: Billy Al Bengston speaks about his work, March 2010
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Billy Al Bengston’s studio at Clark Street and Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, 1957. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston
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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
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Billy Al Bengston’s studio at Clark Street and Santa Monica Boulevard, Los Angeles, 1957. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston
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Billy Al Bengston polishing an artwork, 1963. © Billy Al Bengston. Image courtesy of Marvin Silver and Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica. © Marvin Silver
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Poster for The Studs group exhibition at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles, 1964. Image courtesy of Hal Glicksman
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Larry Bell, Billy Al Bengston, and Ken Price outside Hotel Caesars in Tijuana, Mexico, 1968. Image courtesy of Larry Bell
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Billy Al Bengston’s studio on Mildred Street in Venice, California, 1970. Image courtesy of and © Billy Al Bengston
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Several Los Angeles artists at Culture Day at LACMA (L.A. County Museum of Art), 1968. Photo by and © Julian Wasser.
