WHAT? Frank Walter: Artist, Gardener, Radical

WHERE? The Garden Museum, 5 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1 7LB

WHEN? Now until 25th February 2024 

WHY GO? To be transported to the tropics. The enigmatic Caribbean artist Frank Warner was also an environmentalist, photographer, sculptor and philosopher and his legacy has been etched into the social landscape of Antigua where he was born and died at the age 82 in 2009.  

This uplifting little exhibition pays homage to Walter’s multidisciplinary approach, especially as an environmentalist cum artist and it vividly transports us to the tropics and its Caribbean floral and fauna.

It traces Walter’s life story along with personal recordings of his deeply profound philosophies on everything as he wrestled with his own complex background as an intellectual whose ancestors were both enslaved and aristocrats. 

Walter was the first black man to manage a sugar plantation in Antigua, ran for Prime Minister (was unsuccessful) and devoted all his creative energies towards improving the environment for his fellow Antiguan countrymen before finally retiring quietly to paint and plant in virtual seclusion. 

We’re invited into his simple hillside home-studio, visualised by set designer Jeremy Herbert, as we explore many of the diverse artworks this pioneering man, who embraced nature wholeheartedly, created. 

IN THE KNOW  Walter’s artistic output was prolific. It’s estimated that he created around 1,000 drawings and 5,000 paintings at least, many of which illustrate the accompanying catalogue which includes an essay by the exhibition curator, Professor Barbara Paca, who first met Walter in 2004 and will share her memories in a talk, Frank Walter’s (Antiguan) Climate, on 12th December at the Museum.