Explore the relationship between painting and sculpture through their shared dimensions of space, depth, and texture.
This exhibition will bring together two painters whose works have drawn inspiration from sculpture. Jo McGonigal makes what she refers to as spatial paintings. They leave the constraints of the canvas support behind to interact directly with the architecture in which her works are placed. For McGonigal encountering painting should activate the body as much as it does the eye. Frank Bowling has been exploring the possibilities of paint for over six decades. Renowned for his engagement with abstraction, his technically pioneering works mix new materials and methodologies to create bold, large-scale paintings. They demonstrate his grasp of structure and geometry, and some works feature heavily built-up layered surfaces of paint and various materials, forming artworks that could be characterised as sculptural paintings.
In his book Frank Bowling: Sculpture (2022) curator Sam Cornish delves into the sculptural aspects of Bowling's art. He shares a story of how the artist once received an invitation from Castlefield Gallery to exhibit his paintings alongside the work of a contemporary sculptor: in reply, Bowling said that he would create the sculptures himself. This led to a solo exhibition of Bowling's paintings, works on paper and sculpture at the gallery in 1988.
To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Castlefield Gallery is delighted to present works from the original exhibition, alongside earlier and more recent paintings by Bowling and new works by McGonigal. Bringing their work together is a unique opportunity to challenge our understanding of the relationship between painting and sculpture, as they explore the concepts of physical space and pictorial depth, surface and substance, seeing how one practice can enrich and influence the other.