Michael Bishop collection

Michael Bishop, 1946-2016, was born in Palo Alto, California. Bishop received his BA and MA degrees in Art from San Francisco State College by 1971. In the late 1960s, Bishop was involved with the Visual Dialogue Foundation, alongside Jack Welpott, Judy Dater, and Linda Connor. He received Fellowships with the National Endowmen for the Arts in 1975 and 1978. Bishop was also a member of Polaroid’s 20 x 24 Visiting Artists Program and exhibited his Polaroid work at the LIGHT Gallery in 1979.

Bishop exhibited frequently in solo and group shows during the 1970s, including the Center for Creative Photography in 1979. His work can be found in collections across the country including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the International Museum of Photography, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), the Art Institute of Chicago, and many more. Bishop’s work focused on the manipulation of images, and found creative ways to alter “straight photographs.” He started using Photoshop in the early 1980s and often referred to himself as a digital artist.

Bishop taught photography, Photoshop and computer science. Between 1971 and 1983, he worked at UC Berkeley Extension, San Francisco Art Institute, UCLA, Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, and MIT. In 1983, Bishop returned to California where he continued to teach as a visiting professor at San Francisco Art Institute, UC Riverside, and other colleges. He retired in 2004 and spent his remaining years in the foothills of the Sierras. Bishop died in 2016 from complications of heart disease.