Frank Bowling in Conversation

For the Fitzwilliam Museum’s exhibition Frank Bowling: Seeking the Sublime, we produced an in-conversation film capturing a reflective exchange between Frank Bowling and art critic Martin Gayford, alongside observational footage of Bowling working in his London studio.

Filmed at a moment of late-career clarity, the conversation moves fluidly between memory, process, and perception. Bowling reflects on Guyanese light, intuitive colour, gravity and chance in his poured paintings, and painting as a way of thinking rather than explaining. Gayford’s questioning allows space for digression and uncertainty, resulting in a film that privileges thought in motion over retrospective narration.

Alongside the filming, we worked closely with Frank Bowling’s archivist to identify and source archival material that could sit in dialogue with the newly shot footage. Historic photographs and documentation were selected not as illustration, but as contextual counterpoints — extending the film’s temporal range while maintaining its focus on process, continuity, and lived experience.

This project reflects our approach to making films for museums and artists: combining long-form conversation, close observation, and archival research to produce films that support exhibitions without over-interpreting them, and that respect both the intelligence of the audience and the complexity of the artist’s work.