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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 ARTIST STATEMENT In 1943, Bowman commenced his "rock and Sun" series. It was a style so powerful, with the sun as an energy source and the rock as a symbol of stability, that its direction did not change for seven years. It did change in form, though. Where the earliest shapes had an almost cubistic crispness, Bowman's sun eventually burned them to a brightly glowing cinder. It is this tremendous blazing dynamism that makes Bowman's work unique, and after 1950 it was unbounded. His interest in science led to a series of "Kinetographs," which were based on atomic and sub-atomic structure, the action of nuclear particles, trackings, and force fields. So much energy was unleashed, figuratively speaking, that the entire concept finally disintegrated. Still the energy persisted. While developing "Kinetographs, he made a startling discovery using fluorescent lacquers to highlight key areas of the painting to emphasize the energy generative principle of his forms. A wider variety of colors were made available in oil-based fluorescents that he eventually employed as a principal medium. The difficulties inherent in these pigments was considerable, The risk was great to produce an effect of rawness and eye fatigue when they were administered in their full intensity. Bowman learned to temper their punch with the over glazes of conventional pigment which allowed the super-charged richness to come through while avoiding sensory overload in the viewer. His rendering of this new medium became looser and more gestural in its abstraction and for the next several years would come closer to adhering to the precepts of Abstract Expressionism, there was a fundamental difference in temperament between Bowman and the mainstream Abstract Expressionists however, in that Bowman declined the notion of abandoning references to nature in his work; indeed he found them a basic point of departure. His compositions grew more lyrical, his forms more explosive while he employed the fluorescents to their full potential. Richard Bowman saw the role of an artist as a Promethean figure, that is the maker of power objects for man's higher understanding. Whether this is true or not remains in the heart of the viewer. What is certain though, is that the values that lay inherent at the core of Richard Bowman's work, will remain forever intact. ARTIST BIOGRAPHY Use your mouse to select any of the numbers, and the image will appear in the window on the left hand side of the screen. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16