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Frank Bowling: ‘Guiltiest pleasure? Sixteen-year-old whisky. My doctor says I shouldn’t’
The artist on his need for order, an embarrassing Christmas costume, and the people he hopes to meet in heaven
TL;DR
- Frank Bowling, 92, was born in British Guiana and moved to the UK at 19.
- He graduated from the Royal College of Art in 1962 and moved to New York in 1966.
- Bowling became the first black artist elected a Royal Academician in 2005.
- His exhibition 'Seeking the Sublime' is at the Fitzwilliam Museum until January 2027.
- He finds happiness in people understanding his art and fears poverty.
- He regrets his drinking and dislikes people trying to exercise authority.
- Bowling's proudest achievement is his ability to paint as he does.
- He hopes to be remembered as a nice old man and to reunite with his parents in heaven.