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All Tate Reports Tate Report 06/07

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  • Frank Bowling b1936
  • Who's Afraid of Barney Newman?, 1968
  • Oil on canvas
  • 2340 x 1220mm
  • Presented by Rachel Scott 2006
  • Tate © Frank Bowling
  • T12244
  • View work within Tate Collection
Frank Bowling: Who's Afraid of Barney Newman?

© ADAGP, Paris and DACS, London 2006

Who's Afraid of Barney Newman? is an important example of the 'map paintings' that Frank Bowling made in the late 1960s. As the title's reference to the great abstract painter Barnett Newman suggests, the work might be seen as a humorous take on Abstract Expressionism. A composition of vertical stripes, with a central Newman-like zip, is subverted by the intrusion of a stencilled map of South America, a conscious fusion of references to classic Modernism and to the artist's homeland. It is painted with the colours of Rastafarianism – red, green and gold – a reference to another rich cultural heritage.

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