Bill Owens
American, born 1938
- Introduction
- Bill Owens (born September 25, 1938) is an American photographer, photojournalist, brewer and editor living in Hayward, California. He is best known for his photographs of suburban domestic scenes taken in the East Bay and published in the book Suburbia (1973). Owens is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and two National Endowment for the Arts Grants. According to The New York Sun, "Owens is uniquely associated with suburbanites living in the tract housing developments that absorbed 60 million Americans in the decades following World War II."
- Wikidata
- Q4910416
- Nationality
- American
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Photographer
- Names
- Bill Owens, Bill Elmo Owens, Bill. Owens, William Owens, William Elmo Owens
- Ulan
- 500204781
Works
-
Bill Owens Untitled 1970
-
Bill Owens I find a sense of freedom in the suburbs…. You assume the mask of suburbia for outward appearances and yet no one knows what you really do. 1971
-
Bill Owens Some days when there is no one to play with I build Glenn a tent play house out of two chairs and two blankets. 1971
-
Bill Owens We feel most people have the wrong attitude about sex, that it's nasty and to be only in the dark. With us sex takes care of itself. 1971
-
Bill Owens We really enjoy getting together with our friends to drink and dance. It's a wild party and we're having a great time. 1971
-
Bill Owens Ronald Regan 1972
-
Bill Owens We're really happy. Our kids are healthy, we eat good food, and we have a really nice home. 1972
-
Bill Owens A lot of people say we're chunks of meat, like cattle, but we're not. We're all individuals with dreams and aspirations like everybody else. Being a beauty contestant has taught me about myself, other people, poise and public speaking., If I had it to do over again, I would. 1972
-
Bill Owens I believe in women's liberation. I'm tired of the image of the women who has the most sanitary toilet bowl, the cleanest floor, and the brattiest kids as the supermother., I want to be able to change with my children and to change with my life as I grow older. Staying at home and taking care of the kids doesn't help. 1972
-
Bill Owens I get a lot of compliments on the front room wall. I like Italian Syrocco floral designs over the mantle. It goes with the Palos Verde rock fireplace. 1972
-
Bill Owens It's a great pleasure to watch yourself make love in the six dozen mirrors that line the ceilings and walls. I've spent a tremendous amount of thought and planning to get the total effect of the bedroom., It's fascinating to watch our friends' reactions to seeing the luxury and sensuousness of the room. Our bedroom is the most enjoyable room in the house. 1972
-
Bill Owens We really enjoy living in a mobile home. My hobby is collecting coins and my wife plays her Wurlitzer for entertainment. 1972
Exhibitions
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA’s collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit https://www.moma.org/research-and-learning/circulating-film.
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA’s archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please send feedback to [email protected].