Sir Frank Bowling, one of Britain’s greatest living artists, turns 90 today and there are no signs that he is slowing down – in fact, he will be heading to his studio as usual.
When asked about still creating acclaimed work at such a venerable age, Bowling – who was once described as “pushing the possibilities of paint” by the Tate gallery – says it is “surprising. Overwhelming. Amazing. I always go to the studio on Christmas Day and my birthday, so I’ll be there today.
“I’ve got a new series of paintings on the go and I’m looking forward to seeing how the work is cooking. I’m looking for newness, something I’ve never seen before. I’m still trying to make the best painting the world has ever seen.”
To celebrate this landmark birthday, he is backing an initiative to support a new generation of artists – by helping to raise £500,000 to buy art supplies for state primary schools across the UK.
“The life of an artist is a tough one,” he says. “Believe me, I know. And younger artists need all the support they can get. I was lucky enough to have been supported financially by Carel Weight, who was professor of painting at the Royal College of Art in the Sixties. I want to support young artists and give them what they need to spark the fire of creativity.”
Bowling, whose 60-year career was celebrated by Tate Britain in a 2019 retrospective, has teamed up with art and culture platform CIRCA to release 100 signed prints of new work Understanding Frank, each priced at £7,200.
The initiative, called CIRCA Pipeline, which launches today, is hoping to raise enough money to provide art supplies for 100 schools and some 30,000 pupils and is asking state primary schools to get in touch and register to participate.
Bowling says, “Access to materials isn't just about creating; it's about nurturing possibility. Artists will always do what they have to do and find ways of doing – art finds a way, but young children need schools to be a place of artistic possibilities. It's not just about making art; it's about making sure they feel empowered to create, no matter what."
To mark this drive, CIRCA will premiere a short film related to the project (see below) on big screens in Piccadilly Circus tomorrow at 3.30pm.
This comes at a time when there is “a creativity crisis in UK state primary schools”, according to CIRCA. In 2019, a Fabian Society report found that two-thirds of primary school teachers in England said there was less arts education than in 2010, with half saying the quality of the remaining provision has become worse.
And despite the creative industries sector contributing £109bn to the UK economy in 2021, according to official government statistics, a study by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and A New Direction found “there is a lack of value ascribed to the arts within the state education system in England”.
Bowling himself rose to fame relatively late. Born in Guyana (then British Guiana) in 1934, he came to London at 19 before studying at the Royal College of Art alongside students including David Hockney and Peter Blake. According to Tate 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.”
He became a Royal Academician in 2005, the first black artist to do so, and was knighted in 2020, the year after his major retrospective at Tate. One reviewer said of that Tate show, “Bowling’s painting is all about painting. It is about colour, texture, composition, form, space, depth, fluidity. And, at its best, it’s beautiful.”
That he is still producing highly acclaimed work at 90 is a testament to his skill and dedication. So is the art keeping him young? “I don’t know about keeping me young,” he says, “but my doctor says that the best medicine is for me to go to the studio and to keep working. I feel most alive and energised when I am in my studio making paintings.”
For more information about CIRCA PIPELINE, to order a print, or to register a school visit here
