Denis Bowen (1921 - 2006) was born in Kimberley, South Africa. Having lost his parents in an accident at a young age, Bowen's orphaned status meant he were to emigrate to the United Kingdom to live with aunt, in Huddersfield.

In 1936 Bowen enrolled at the Huddersfield School of Art, and, after graduating, he was due to take up a place at the Royal College of Art. However, with the outbreak of World War II, his studies were postponed whilst he served as a Chief Naval Radar Operator working in the North Atlantic.

Not only was Denis Bowen a practising artist, but he also founded the New Vision Centre Gallery - becoming a patron for some highly distinguished names in the international art scene including Aubrey Williams and Arpana Caur, and following college, he held a number of teaching posts.

Bowen's teaching roles included Kingston Institute of art, Hammersmith School of Arts, Birmingham School of Art, Central School of Art and Design, the Royal College of Art and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver Canada. 

Throughout his life Bowen mentored and inspired - and also collected - amassing a wonderful array of work from some global names as well as many of the emerging artists of the day.

 Denis Bowen 1950

The role of patron came naturally to Bowen whom fellow artist Derek Culley said he had 'the great fortune' to meet in the mid 80's, when Denis would become his mentor. Culley recalls, 'He introduced me to the London art world and the art of navigating its peculiarities and complexities. When it came to the contemporary and modern art world, Bowen was a Master Painter with an encyclopaedic knowledge of art and the art world. Bowen taught me a new way to look/question/approach and appreciate art; from being both a viewer and practitioner.'

Bowen believed in inclusivity. Whilst he and Derek Culley participated in an exhibition of Contemporary Celtic Region artists during a Celtic festival, Bowen proposed enlarging the model and premise to include all 7 Celtic Regions in Europe. From this, Celtic Vision was born headed by Denis, Derek and Scottish artist John Bellany. The dominant aim; to exhibit contemporary visual arts from these regions - politics aside. 

Whilst continuing to play a pivotal part in art education, Bowen was challenging and shaping post-war artistic trends. Bowen's style was continually evolving throughout his practice. From the 1950s to mid 60s, Bowen was one of the first artists in Britain to experiment with Tachism. During this time, each painting would be started and completed within one sitting to maintain the importance of the physical process behind painting. Post Tachism, Bowen's painterly style was dominated by psychedelia from 1969-1980, and later ended with a relentless obsession with space discovery and the unattainable.

In many works, Bowen employs simple materials and found objects including door panels and kitchen cupboards, for his canvas. These created a juxtaposition between the aesthetically enticing and incomprehensible planetary landscapes he would depict, and the preloved furniture of his own home and studio. Bowen's chosen subjects including erupting lava and planetary landscapes, are something we can only imagine yet their depiction is so expressive we almost feel we are within the painting. Although Bowen worked the paintbrush and canvas, he would often leave the paint to fuse into the background and other lines, allowing for a seemingly free and unrestricted result. This spontaneity remained at the forefront of Bowen's work and life, and is one of the paramount reasons why his work continues to be regarded so highly, with institutions such as The Tate holding his work within their collection.   Like the advent of space technology,

Bowen's paintings of space make it more accessible and conceivable to the human imagination. The beauty of each individual canvas allows the viewer to feel deep and intense emotions. His complex choice of colours, which often have subtle alterations depending on their lighting, are demonstrable of the ever-changing landscapes of outer space and the continuous fascination one can find within it. 

Image left:  Magma | 217 x 183 cm | mixed media on canvas