Frank Bowling’s first major retrospective celebrates an artist who pushes the possibilities of paint
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This exhibition offers a chance to experience the entirety of Bowling’s 60-year career. It showcases his sensual use of colour and bold experimentation.Born in Guyana (then British Guiana) in 1934, at 19 years old Bowling moved to London. He went on to study painting at the Royal College of Art alongside David Hockney">David Hockney and R.B. Kitaj.After graduating with a silver medal, he spent the next 60 years criss-crossing the Atlantic between studios in London and New York. Maturing into a master of his medium, he developed a visionary approach that fuses abstraction with personal memories. Now 85 he still paints every day, experimenting with new materials and techniques.The exhibition brings together a lifetime of large-scale artworks. It includes key series such as the iconic 'map paintings', the visually arresting ‘poured paintings’ made by pouring paint down an inclined surface, and the sculptural paintings of the 1980s evoking riverbeds, all the way to mature work selected from a recent period of explosive productivity.
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Frank Bowling Iona Miriam's Christmas Visit To & From Brighton 2017 Courtesy Frank Bowling and Hales Gallery © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
Frank Bowling Mirror 1966 Tate Presented by the artist, Rachel Scott, and their 4 children: Benjamin and Sacha Bowling, Marcia and Iona Scott 2013 © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
Frank Bowling Sacha Jason Guyana Dreams 1989 Tate Purchased 2006 © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
Frank Bowling Remember Thine Eyes 2014 Courtesy Frank Bowling and Hales Gallery © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
Frank Bowling Ziff 1974 courtesy of Jessica McCormack © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
Frank Bowling Polish Rebecca 1971 Private Collection © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
Frank Bowling Ah Susan Whoosh 1981 Private Collection, London © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
Frank Bowling Cover Girl 1966 Private Collection © Frank Bowling. All Rights Reserved, DACS 2019
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MillbankLondon SW1P 4RGPlan your visit
Dates
31 May – 26 August 2019
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Supported by
With additional support from
The Frank Bowling Exhibition Supporters Circle
Miles Gerstein and Susan DavisThe Hitchin FamilyPamela J Joyner and Alfred J Giuffrida
Tate Americas Foundation
Tate International Council
Tate Patrons
and Tate Members