Billy Al Bengston
Trevapplinger Draculas1978

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Artist or Maker: Billy Al Bengston
United States,1934-2022
Title: Trevapplinger Draculas
Date Made: 1978
Medium: Acrylic on canvas
Dimensions: Frame: 90 1/2 x 80 1/2 in. (229.87 x 204.47 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Dona S. and Dwight M. Kendall in honor of the museum’s twenty-fifth anniversary
Accession Number: M.2021.24
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: Modern Art
Curatorial Notes: 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.