Elephant | “A Homecoming Of Sorts”: Frank Bowling’s Work Arrives Back in South America

'At ninety-one, Frank Bowling is still breaking new ground. This year alone, the leading abstract painter opened his debut solo exhibition in France, and now, he is exhibiting in Brazil, South America — the continent of his birth — for the first time. For the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, Not All Travellers Walk Roads – Of Humanity as Practice, Bowling presents twenty-five paintings spanning five decades of work in response to the biennial’s central metaphor of the estuary — a symbol of the convergence of philosophies, mythologies, and landscapes. On a hot summer’s afternoon, art historian Melissa Baksh caught up with the artist to discuss the allure of São Paulo, serendipitous chance happenings, and how Guyana — with its wild waters and luscious terrain — is a constant, both in his work and his dreams.'