Collage art poem by
Michael Bowen
These two small pages are from a diary collage book made in 1963 and they formulate an essential philosophical foundation for understanding the prolific artistic career of Michael Bowen. They were constructed at a time when Bowen was living in temporary seclusion at Tunitas Creek California. Synchronously, the world consciousness around him was forever changing. On November 22, 1963 John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the memory of which is still deeply etched into the collective memories of all of us who were old enough to comprehend this pivotal turning point of human history. At this unique moment in history, however, Michael Bowen was in seclusion, in a state of introspection working on his awareness of the significance of the great world teacher of Vedanta philosophy, Swami Vivekananda.
"At this unique moment in history, however, Michael Bowen was in seclusion, in a state of introspection working on his awareness of the significance of the great world teacher of Vedanta philosophy, Swami Vivekananda."
It was only days later when Bowen returned to his larger studio, once an old abalone factory at half moon bay, when he found his longtime beat-art-comrade Michael McCraken badly beaten up that he learned of the events of JFK's assassination. A few days earlier, McCraken had taken LSD, gone to a local coffee shop and started to laugh wildly as the radio news broadcast told of the death of the president. The enraged locals at the café took out their anger on the hapless McCraken. Michael Bowen took this as a sign. World events were changing, the work of his mentor John Starr Cooke were nearing completion in Carmel, and he decided then to follow him to Tepoztlan Mexico and escape the oppression and insanity of a disintegrating American dream.
"Bowen's Eastern fascination is revealed in these diary pages years before he ever set foot on the subcontinent of India. Later in 1969, Bowen received initiation into the Goddess Kali tradition in Calcutta India at the same temple where the famous saint Ramakrishna taught and inspired his disciple Vivekananda."
Michael Bowen, although born of Welsh parents in Beverly Hills, inherited the Vedanta tradition of metaphysics and philosophy from his grandmother and his great-grand father. His grandmother, Alma, taught the young Michael about Hindu dharma, Vedanta precepts, Krishnamurti, and of course Swami Vivekananda. Bowen's Eastern fascination is revealed in these diary pages years before he ever set foot on the subcontinent of India. Later in 1969, Bowen received initiation into the Goddess Kali tradition in Calcutta India at the same temple where the famous saint Ramakrishna taught and inspired his disciple Vivekananda. Working under the guidance of his primary mentor John Starr Cooke, Michael Bowen remains devoted to the Vedanta ideals espoused by Swami Vivekananda in 1893 at the World Congress of Religion in Chicago.
"When seen through the lens of Vedanta philosophy, the oeuvre of Michael Bowen's artwork is appreciated and treasured as a unique cultural contribution."
Swami Vivekananda represented to Bowen a heroic figure, mentor, and self-model. Vivekananda left his safe world of India to travel under difficult conditions in order to bring his message to the West. Bowen's own adventurous lifestyle, world travels, and search for transcendent knowledge was inspired by and modeled after Vivekananda. When seen through the lens of Vedanta philosophy, the oeuvre of Michael Bowen's artwork is appreciated and treasured as a unique cultural contribution and the highest metaphysical side of the Beat generation.
R.W. Bruch
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