Renowned British abstract painter Sir Frank Bowling unveils his first-ever digital work on May 4 at London’s Piccadilly Circus.
At 8:23 p.m. BST, his work, titled Arrival, will flash on the city’s iconic Piccadilly Lights, which usually feature advertisements or brand logos. This will happen every night at the same time until June 30.
Since 2020, the Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts (CIRCA) has used the Piccadilly Lights to broadcast new works of art by famous artists so that they can be enjoyed for free by passers-by. The organization’s global network of public screens continues to grow, and the work will also be shown at 8:23 p.m. local time in Berlin, Milan, Seoul, Los Angeles and Tokyo. A program and a map are available on CIRCA website.
Sir Frank Bowling, 2021. Photo by Sacha Bowling.
Arrivalis inspired by Bowling’s move from British Guiana (now Guyana) to London in May 1953 when he was just 19 years old. both the 75th anniversary of Windrush, the boat that ferried Caribbean migrants to the UK to start a new life, and the coronation of King Charles III on May 6.
The warmly evocative orange, pink and red tones of the artwork are the result of the cross-fading of two of Bowling’s famous card paintings, Louisa from Texas (1971) and Australia to Africa (1969–70).
“I’m a painter first and foremost, but I’m still experimenting,” Bowling told Artnet News. “My intention is simply to use color and geometry to create something that will catch the eye of the viewer. I’m convinced that the light comes out of the paint, and that’s what I’m looking for.
“Work on Arrival was an opportunity to use color and light in a totally different way and add something new to the world.
Bowling had made the original paintings during a stay in New York, when he became interested in the stenciled map shapes of Guyana, Africa, Asia, and Australia. The shape of these maps became a guiding framework in which to explore color and geometry.
“Thinking about my life moving from South America to London to New York and then years back and forth across the Atlantic, referencing these earlier works seemed like the obvious decision,” said said Bowling.
“I keep hearing that my work seems relevant right now, but I don’t know. It would be interesting to hear what viewers think about it,” he added. “I remember [Nigerian curator] Okwui Enwezor saying that I started my career as an artist in the 1950s at a time of global transition, when the world had become an unstable place. I think there’s a sense that we’re at another time of transition, of flux, of possibilities for something new. Maybe that’s why?
CIRCA invites viewers with a connection to the Windrush generation to upload photos documenting their own stories to its website, some of which will be included in a special film showing about the Piccadilly Lights on June 22.
Artists previously commissioned by CIRCA include Douglas Gordon, Caroline WalkerAnne Imhof, Laure Prouvost, Shirin Neshat, Marina Abramović, Yoko Ono and Vivienne Westwood.
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