Museum PR Announcements News and Information

Royal Academy Opens Journeyings: Recent Works on Paper by Frank Bowling RA

The Royal Academy presents Journeyings: Recent Works on Paper by Frank Bowling RA an exhibition on view 27 May—23 October 2011 In the Tennant Gallery. This exhibition offers an opportunity to explore recent works on paper by the painter Frank Bowling RA (b. 1936).

Bowling’s art reflects his travels, actual and aesthetic, between his birthplace of British Guiana (now Guyana) and his homes and studios in London and New York; between the tradition of English landscape painting and the legacy of American Abstract Expressionism.


Frank Bowling RA (b. 1936), Greenacross I, 2009. Acrylic paint and gel on paper. Copyright the artist. Photo: Rose Jones.

Like the much larger paintings on canvas for which Bowling is renowned, these works in acrylic paint and gel on heavy paper have a powerful physical presence created by their vibrant colours and tactile surfaces. Originating in Bowling’s need to find a new way to paint while recovering from illness, their gestural quality seems magnified by their smaller scale. The works are abstract, yet the viewer is led to figurative or representational associations by the artist’s obvious preoccupation with space and light and the allusive titles that he gives them.

Excerpts from a forthcoming documentary film on Frank Bowling’s life and work by Rose Jones, currently in production, will also be on view.

The exhibition coincides with the launch of a comprehensive monograph on the art of Frank Bowling, written by Mel Gooding and published by the Royal Academy. A compelling text charting Bowling’s career and establishing him as one of the finest British artists of his generation is accompanied by 130 colour illustrations. Frank Bowling by Mel Gooding is available in the RA Shop, priced £29.95

The Royal Academy of Arts has a unique position in being an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate.

Royal Academy of Arts
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BD
Telephone 020 7300 8000
www.royalacademy.org.uk

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *