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Penumbra
Artwork Viewer
Not on view
Born in British-controlled Guyana, in South America, Frank Bowling studied art in London before moving to New York City in 1966. He is widely celebrated for his achievements as an abstract painter and as an advocate for Black artists internationally, namely through his writing in Arts Magazine (1969–1972). Bowling played a key role in debates around “Black art” and championed the rights of all artists to express themselves freely.
Rejecting pure abstraction, Bowling’s “Map Paintings” (1967–1971) refer to the post-colonialist imagination and his own Afro-Caribbean roots. These large works, characterized by their use of world maps, undermine imperialist conceptions of geography and cartography, all while exploring color as its own subject. Although Penumbra’s map imagery initially appears familiar, the continents of South America and Africa are conspicuously absent. Through fragmentation and omissions, Bowling deconstructs a colonialist gaze that privileges Europe and North America and that relegates colonized continents, countries, and cultures to the shadows.
- Artist
- Frank Bowling
- Title
- Penumbra
- Date
- 1970
- Object Type
- Painting
- Medium
- Acrylic and spray paint on canvas
- Dimensions
- 89 3/8 x 274 3/4 in. (227 x 697.9 cm)
- Credit Line
- Museum purchase, Phyllis C. Wattis Fund for Major Accessions
- Accession Number
- 2019.72