Michael Bowen, born in Beverly Hills, California is an avant-garde innovator. His work as a Beat artist spans several decades and provided inspiration to poets and writers of the Beat Generation such as Allen Ginsberg, Michael McClure and Gary Snyder. He was a member of the abstract/assemblage group in Los Angeles in the early ‘50s. He traveled to the East Coast and Europe in the early ‘60s, and completed four world art tours between 1969 and 1988.

 In 1967, Bowen organized the Human Be-In along with friends Allen Cohen and Tim Leary. Bowen states that, " The Be-In was the culmination of ten years of psychedelic revolutionary preparation, with the emphasis on personal freedom" In the mid-seventies Bowen turned his attention to the world of psychic phenomenon and allied himself with the PSI Art Group. Reflecting on current times Bowen stated "drugs are not a good weapon anymore in the fight … other than marijuana".

Back to Abstract Expressionists and Beat Generation