Mugs by the formidable Billy Al Bengston.
Billy Al Bengston (born June 7, 1934 in Dodge City, Kansas) is an American artist and sculptor who lives and works in Venice, California and Honolulu, Hawaii. Bengston is a contemporary artist probably best known for his work that he created that uses the radical Californian "Kustom Kar" and motorcycle culture. He used colors that were psychedelic and shapes that were mandala like.He moved to Los Angeles with his family in 1948. He studied painting under Richard Diebenkorn at California College of Arts, Oakland, CA. In 1957, Bengston began showing with the legendary Ferus Gallery (founded and run by Walter Hopps, Edward Kienholz and Irving Blum) until the gallery closed in 1966. Bengston has had major solo presentations at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA; the San Francisco Museum of Art, CA; the Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX; and and a three person retrospective with Ed Ruscha and Ed Moses at the New Britain Museum of American Art, CT.
