Bill Owens

(American, born 1938)

untitled (open fridge) by bill owens

Bill Owens

Untitled (open fridge), 1972

Price on Request

cleo and james pruden, from suburbia series by bill owens

Bill Owens

Cleo and James Pruden, from Suburbia series, 1972

Price on Request

every summer we go all out on our camp in yosemite. i do the barbequing by bill owens

Bill Owens

Every summer we go all out on our camp in Yosemite. I do the barbequing, 1972

Price on Request

mcdonald's modern day care center keeps the boys out of my hair and lets me have a moment to myself. kansas city, mo, from leisure series by bill owens

Bill Owens

McDonald's modern day care center keeps the boys out of my hair and lets me have a moment to myself. Kansas City, MO, from Leisure series, 1972

Price on Request

it was a total mad house but i would do anything to see the bee gees by bill owens

Bill Owens

It was a total mad house but I would do anything to see the Bee Gees, 1976

Price on Request

on the weekends the traffic is always bumper to bumper just like a commute day. you drive for four hours to look at el capitan for four minutes, and most people never get out of the car by bill owens

Bill Owens

On the weekends the traffic is always bumper to bumper just like a commute day. You drive for four hours to look at El Capitan for four minutes, and most people never get out of the car, 1977

Price on Request

fourteen years ago dublin, california was a crossroads on u.s. 50 and highway 21. the population was less than 1,000 (most of them cows.) today dublin is the crossroads of interstate highways 580 and 680 with a population over 25,000 people.  by bill owens

Bill Owens

Fourteen years ago Dublin, California was a crossroads on U.S. 50 and Highway 21. The population was less than 1,000 (most of them cows.) Today Dublin is the crossroads of Interstate Highways 580 and 680 with a population over 25,000 people. , 1972

Price on Request

Biography

Timeline

1938
Born on September 25 in San Jose, CA
1953 - 1957
San Juan High School. Citrus Heights, CA
1957 - 1963
BA, industrial design, California State University, Chico, California
1960 - 1961
Nine-month hitchhiking tour of the world
1964 - 1966
Peace Corps. (Jamaica, West Indies) Hitchhiked in Central America
1966 - 1967
Entered San Francisco State College to study photography; photographed student riots; photo editor S.F. State Daily Gator
1968 - 1978
Photographer for the Livermore Independent, California; photographed Hells Angels at Rolling Stones Altamont concert; obtained $2000 grant from Alfred Heller, publisher of Cry California magazine to work on suburban photographs
1978 - Present
Freelance photographer
1982 - Present
Beer maker and distiller

Exhibitions

2009
Altamont, Suburbia, Leisure, Riots, Galerie Alex Daniels - Reflex Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (solo)
2005
PhotoEspana. Madrid, Spain: Bill Owens. June 1-July 17
Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art at the Geffen Contemporary. Street Credibility January 25-June 7, 2004
Photographs Do Not Bend. “ Landscape???” January 30-April 17, 2004
Whitney Museum of American Art. Inside Out: Portrait photographs from the permanent collection. February 7-May 23, 2004
Reflex Modern Art Gallery Amsterdam, “Beauty of Darkness’ April 24-June 12, 2004.
Photographs Do Not Bend. Nine April 30-June 12, 2004
Kennedy Boesky Photographs Marianne Boesky Gallery. Seventies Color Photography William Christenberry, Mark Cohen, John Divola, William Eggleston. Mitch Epstein, Nan Golden. Helen Levitt. Mary Ellen Mark, Joel Meyerwitz, Richard Misrach, Bill Owens, Ed Ruscha. Steven Shore, Joel Sternfeld. January 3-January 31, 2004
USC Fisher Gallery. University of Southern California, “Game Face-What Does a Female Athlete Look Like?” September 9-November 1, 2004
San Jose Museum of Art. It’s About Time: Celebrating 35 Years. October 2, 2004-February 13, 2005