Another artist whose attitude and work I admire is Frank Bowling.
Born in the former British Colony of Guyana, West Indies, the Caribbean in 1936, Bowling moved to London in the 50s, aged just 19. His father was a police district paymaster, and his mother a seamstress.
In London, Bowling completed his national service in the Royal Air Force. He found his passion for art when he studied painting at the Chelsea School of Art and the Royal College of Art alongside David Hockney and R.B. Kitaj.
When graduating in 1962, Hockney was awarded the gold medal, while Bowling was given the silver. Bowling has been expected to claim the gold, but a controversial relationship is said to have lead to him only being awarded silver.
Bowling’s first solo exhibition, Image in Revolt, was held at the Grabowski Gallery, London, in 1962.
More recently, Bowling spends his time between his studios in London and New York.
I was lucky enough to attend an exhibition of his work at Tate Britain in June 2019 entitled ‘The possibilities of paint are never ending’, (a sentiment that I understand).
Find out more here.
I particularly like his work ‘The poured paintings’ and I was hoping to see some of them at this exhibition, but sadly there was little on display.
