An evening with artists FRANK BOWLING

The Royal Academy of Arts hosts ‘In Conversation with Frank Bowling’ ahead of the artist’s Traingone exhibition in Stockholm’s Spirit museum, looking at selected works from 1979–96.

Frank Bowling RA moved to London in 1950 from Guyana and nine years later began studying at the Royal College of Art after gaining a scholarship. Since graduating in 1962, Bowling has travelled the world with studios in both London and New York. His work has transitioned from figurative to abstract pieces, exploring and experimenting with colour, size and texture.

His upcoming Traingone exhibition named after one of his 1966 paintings, showcases his intriguing attention to colour that emerged in his later work and the unique textures he created. Allowing the colourful paint to take control of the finished work, dripping down the surface; he called his paintings ‘poured’, relinquishing control and leaving the appearance of his work to chance.

In 2005 Bowling was elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Art, becoming the first black Royal Academician in the institution’s 200 years and for one evening he returns and will be conversing with Mel Gooding, art critic and author of the Frank Bowling monograph for the Royal Academy.

Bowling’s work can be found permanently displayed in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, as well as in the Tate Gallery in London.