Richard Sheridan Franklin Bowling [Frank Bowling] OBE (born 1936) is a Guyana born British artist and is widely considered to be one of the most distinguished artists to emerge from post-war British art schools. His paintings relate to Abstract expressionism, Color Field painting and Lyrical Abstraction.
An abstract painter, he graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1962 alongside [[David Hockney]. At graduation, Hockney got the gold medal while Bowling was given the silver. Frank was tipped to win the gold but due to his controversial marriage to Royal College Registrar Paddy Kitchen, he was relegated to silver.
A move to New York exposed Bowling to his American contemporaries and soon won him a place in the 1971 Whitney Biennial. Bowling spends part of each year between London and New York where he maintains studios.
Bowling's paintings are exhibited in Europe, the United Kingdom and the United States and are included in major private and corporate collections worldwide. Bowling's work can also be seen in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art in New York, as well as the Tate Gallery in London.
On May 26, 2005 Bowling was elected a member of England's Royal Academy of Arts. Bowling was among about a dozen artists proposed to fill one of two vacancies in the eighty-member academy, and is the first Black Artist to be elected a Royal Academician in the history of the institution.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[1]