Bartica, 1968-1969

Frank Bowling (b. British Guiana, 1934) is one the finest abstract painters working today. In a transatlantic career spanning more than six decades, he has constantly pushed the boundaries of painting and drawing on both the English landscape tradition and American abstraction. Using techniques honed over a lifetime, Bowling experiments by pouring, dripping, and throwing paint. He also stitched, collages, and embeds found objects into his canvases. He became a Royal Academician in 2005, was awarded an OBE in 2008, and he was knighted in 2020 for services to art. Bowling’s approach to painting is epitomised by the quotation used as the title of his 2019 retrospective at Tate Britain, ‘The possibilities of paint are never ending.’ Photo: 'Sir Frank Bowling in his studio' by Sacha Bowling, 2020.