Early Career in Los Angeles
Michael Bowen was born December 8, 1937, in Beverly Hills to Grace and Sterling Bowen, a Hollywood dentist. His mother's lover, Benjamin (Bugsy) Siegel, affectionately known as Uncle Benjie to Michael, would often take the youthful Bowen to not only the Flamingo Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada that he created, but also to the Sir Francis Drake Hotel near Union Square in downtown San Francisco. Bowen's early romance with San Francisco established this city as his home base from which he would frequently travel to other places in the world. He started his art career at age 17, when he joined the American installation artist Ed Kienholz in his Los Angeles studio. There he met and joined with other influential Beat Generation artists including Wallace Berman, John Altoon, and Dennis Hopper. Bowen participated in the construction of the Ferus Gallery and Now Gallery created by Ed Kienholz and curated by Walter Hopps. Bowen attended the Chouinard Art Institute for several years during his formative artistic experiences in Los Angeles.
Read more about this topic: Michael Bowen (artist)
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