Cambridge Visual Culture Talk
Monday 27 April | 5.30-7.00pm
A free CVC public talk will explore the key themes and developments in Frank Bowling's painting practice in relation to the works currently on display at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Elena Crippa (art historian and curator) will be in conversation with Habda Rashid (senior curator of modern & contemporary art).
A Son's Exploration
Thursday 25 June 2026 | 1.00-2.00pm
Join Ben Bowling (co-director of the Frank Bowling Studio) in conversation with Martin Gayford (critic, writer and co-curator of the exhibition) for a lecture exploring Bowling's extraordinary career. Combining personal insight and critical perspective, the discussion will explore his abstract and figurative works.
Museum Late
Thursday 25 June 2026 | 6.30-9.00pm
Attend a Museum Late in collaboration with Diasporas Now, a collective, artist-run, live art community and cultural agency for artists of the Global Majority. Experience live performance, music, dance and participatory workshops responding to Bowling's vibrant abstraction, in a celebration that moves beyond the canvas.
Journeys Through Abstraction
Thursday 16 July 2026 | 1.00-2.00pm
Explore Frank Bowling's remarkable career with author and cultural historian Ben Highmore, Professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Sussex, during his lunchtime talk. In this talk, Highmore will introduce ways of understanding the abstract painting that has defined Bowling's practice since the late 1960s.
Installation view of Frank Bowling: Seeking the Sublime at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Photo © the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge.
Close up, Swan Upping, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 114.3 x 96.5 cm. Courtesy the artist. Photographed by Sacha Bowling. © Frank Bowling. All rights reserved, DACS 2026.
Ben Bowling and Frank Bowling. Courtesy of Spencer Richards. Photographed by Spencer Richards.
Frank Bowling: Seeking the Sublime at the Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge. Photo: Thomas Adank.
Close up, Lenoraseas, 1976, acrylic on canvas, 223 x 118 cm. Courtesy the artist. Photographed by Charlie Littlewood. © Frank Bowling. All rights reserved, DACS 2026.