Frank Bowling and Keith Cunningham met in the bustling art scene of mid-century London. Celebrated as one of the preeminent British artists of his generation, Bowling born in British Guiana in 1934. In 1953 he moved to London, where he joined the Royal College of Art. Here, he could explore his fascination with colour, form and texture, which came alive through his use of vibrant pigments, mixed media and experimental techniques.

In 1962 his creativity was recognised when he gained the RCA’s silver medal for painting. His art was celebrated for its distinctive style, which deftly combined figurative, symbolic and abstract elements. It was in this period that Bowling and Cunningham met. While studying at the RCA and deeply immersed in the London art world, Bowling would sit for Cunningham, who produced painted portraits and sketches. Bowling said:

In 1966, Bowling moved to New York, embracing modernism with a deep focus on materiality, process, and colour. By 1971, he had completely abandoned figurative imagery. Bowling's renowned ‘Map Paintings’ (1967-71), featuring stencilled representations of continents like South America, Africa, and Australia, convey the radical transition from figurative art to pure abstraction.

Bowling produced critical writings made a substantial contribution to intellectual discussions surrounding ‘black art’. In 1969, Bowling organized and curated the groundbreaking exhibition "5+1" at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and Princeton University, showcasing the works of five African American abstract artists alongside his own recent paintings. From 1973 to 1978, Bowling explored more experimental techniques, employing ‘controlled accidents’ such as spilling paint on canvases to create what he termed ‘Poured Paintings’.

In the 1980s Bowling produced sculptural paintings which featured embedded objects and heavily textured canvases, evoking landscapes, riverbeds and geological matter. His work carries the legacies of both the English landscape tradition and American abstraction.

Bowling became Royal Academician in 2005 and received the OBE for services to Art in 2008, followed by a knighthood in 2020. His work is included in a large number of collections worldwide and has been featured in hundreds of group and solo exhibitions. The BBC produced the documentary ‘Frank Bowling's Abstract World’ in conjunction with a major retrospective at Tate in 2019. Bowling continues to work in his South London studio today.