Odysseus's Footfalls 1982

Frank Bowling’s painting titled ‘Odysseus’s Footfalls’ is awash with delicate pinks, blues and purples, punctuated by bolder yellows and reds. I imagine the act of painting it was kind of dreamy, a dance between control and chance. It's almost like you can see him pouring and pushing the paint, coaxing it into these soft, blooming forms. I can almost feel the canvas absorbing each layer, each footfall, building up this textured landscape. Look closely at the grey cascades, and how they cut through the pastel field. The overall effect reminds me of Helen Frankenthaler’s soak-stain paintings, but with something else, maybe a tougher, more grounded quality. I think there’s an ongoing conversation between artists like Bowling and Frankenthaler, a kind of call and response across time and place. Painting’s about uncertainty, right? It’s this open-ended process where meaning is never fixed, always evolving with each stroke, each viewer, each footfall.