Southern California artist Billy Al Bengston began showing with the Ferus Gallery in 1957 after studying at the Otis Art Institute. Deeply affected by his encounter with Jasper Johns’ iconic paintings at the 1968 Venice Biennale, he embarked upon a series of works using sergeant stripes executed in industrial material often associated with the decoration of motorcycles and surfboards. Other series depicted the image of an iris adopted from the Iris Sugar Company logo, which Bengston called a “dracula” as it resembled a flying vampire as well as a flower. Trevlapplinger Draculas continues his interest in the central flower image in a large scale somewhat unusual for the artist.