What question did this study set out to answer?

The article examines the practices of artists Frank Bowling and Jo McGonigal within the context of a specific exhibition.

April 17, 2026

Frank and Jo make space at Castlefield Gallery, 2024

Key Points

The article examines the practices of artists Frank Bowling and Jo McGonigal within the context of a specific exhibition.
Analyzes Griselda Pollock's textual interpretation of the exhibition.
Includes Jo McGonigal's visual essay that complements Pollock’s writing.
Collaborates with photographers to create a photographic interpretation of the exhibition.
Highlights the active and spatial nature of painting as an artistic practice.
Offers insights into the comparative approaches of the two artists.
Explores how the exhibition setting influences the perception of painting.

Abstract

This article brings together a text by Griselda Pollock and a visual essay by Jo McGonigal. The visual essay accompanies Pollock’s reading of an exhibition in 2024 at Castlefield Gallery in Manchester featuring works by Frank Bowling and Jo McGonigal. Framed by the twin questions ‘ What is painting doing? ’ and ‘ What is painting being? ’, it offers a comparative study of the two artists’ practices, exploring how painting functions as an active, spatial practice – a doing. The project combines Pollock’s direct and sensory encounter with the works alongside a parallel photographic interpretation of the exhibition by McGonigal in collaboration with photographers Jules Lister and Simon Pantling.

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Cite This Study

McGonigal et al. (Wed,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/69e1cf1b5cdc762e9d857fb2 https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1386/jcp_00086_1

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