If you look carefully, in the middle of the work there are six circles of paint. On Sir Frank’s instruction, his son Benjamin tipped over a children’s strip of small paint pots, and the circles of paint on the work represent the primary colours – which can be mixed to create many other colours – plus green, white and black. For Sir Frank, the possibilities of paint are endless, and the unpredictable behaviour of paint is exciting. Even with six small pots of paint, many interesting shapes and colours have emerged. – Sir Frank Bowling’s Studio, 2020

Frank Bowling is an influential British artist known for his abstract paintings. Born in Guyana in 1936, Bowling moved to London in the 1950s where he studied at the Royal College of Art. Over the course of his long career, he has become one of the most important figures in the development of abstract painting in Britain. Frank Bowling‘s work is characterized by its use of vibrant color and its exploration of the materiality of paint. He often uses poured and dripped techniques to create complex and layered surfaces that challenge our preconceptions about the flatness of the canvas. He also employs a wide range of materials, including resin, wax, and pigments, to create works that are at once visually stunning and deeply physical. Frank Bowling‘s work is also notable for its engagement with the legacy of abstract expressionism, and for its use of the poured and dripped techniques first popularized by artists such as Jackson Pollock. Through his innovative and groundbreaking works, Bowling has expanded our understanding of what painting can be and what it can do. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at important institutions including Tate Britain (London), Haus der Kunst (Munich), Serpentine Gallery (London) and Whitney Museum of American Art (New York). Sir Frank Bowling Kt OBE, RA was born in British Guiana in 1934 and maintains studios in London and New York.

Frank Bowling, Benjamin Run