Explore Frank Walter’s relationship to Antigua through a range of works and writings that express his intimate connection to Caribbean nature, landscape, and place. “Nothing seems to be reworked—it is as if each piece drew or painted itself without being adjusted, revised, or fussed over.” — Hyperallergic Influenced by his studies of agriculture and the sugar industry in the former British colony of Antigua as well as his extensive travels in England, Scotland, and West Germany, Walter created work inspired by his thoughts, knowledge, journeys, and surroundings—work that encompassed painting, drawing, writing, sculpture, photography, and sound. This focused selection focuses on paintings—tender, quiet, and lush—that transcend the traditional tourist’s view of island life in favor of perspectives that explore how and why we look at where we are. Published on the occasion of the 2022 exhibition at David Zwirner, this catalogue includes an introduction by the show’s curator Hilton Als. Barbara Paca, the leading expert on Walter, writes a text detailing her personal experience meeting Walter and being in his presence. An essay by Charlie Porter takes readers on a walk as he muses about Walter’s life and the nature depicted in his paintings. Joshua Jelly-Schapiro travels to Antigua to explore the history of the island and Walter’s lasting impact there.

This publication has been produced to accompany an exhibition staged by Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, for the 2021 Edinburgh Art Festival. The exhibition is the first devoted to Frank Walter's 'spools' - the small circular paintings which, in their consistency of scale and form, provide a lens through which to witness the workings of Walter's inner eye. Walter's work was unknown during his lifetime, but in the decade since his death he has emerged as one of the most distinctive and intriguing Caribbean voices of the last fifty years. Painted with a rare directness and immediacy on whatever material came most readily to hand, his works describe a visionary artist rooted in the landscape of Antigua, the island of his birth. The publication, co-published by Ingleby, Edinburgh, and Anomie, London, features contributions by Barbara Paca, Professor Paget Henry, Kenneth M. Milton and Mary-Elisabeth Moore. Edited and produced by Ingleby, the publication has been designed by Joanna Deans / Identity and printed by Graphius, Ghent. Frank Walter (1926-2009) was born Francis Archibald Wentworth Walter on Horsford Hill, Antigua. He spent much of the 1950s travelling in Scotland, England and West Germany. While in Europe, Walter pursued various creative activities including drawing, painting and creative writing. Walter returned to the Caribbean in 1961, where he began a prolific output of painting, drawing, writing, sculptural work, photography and sound art. Walter's work was first exhibited alongside paintings by Alfred Wallis and Forrest Bess in the exhibition 'Songs of Innocence and Experience' at Ingleby Gallery in Spring 2013. A solo exhibition of his work was presented by The Douglas Hyde Gallery, Trinity College, Dublin, in summer 2013 and later that year, Ingleby Gallery presented a solo display of Walter's paintings at Art Basel Miami Beach. A major solo exhibition followed at Ingleby Gallery in spring 2015. In 2017, Frank Walter represented Antigua and Barbuda at the Venice Biennale in the show 'Frank Walter: The Last Universal Man 1926-2009'. A solo presentation of Walter's work also took place at Harewood House, Leeds, UK, in the summer of 2017. A major retrospective of the artist's work was displayed at both MMK Museum of Modern Art Frankfurt in 2020 and at David Zwirner, London, in the spring of 2021.