At 92, British artist Frank Bowling is still trying to make the best painting ever

Now Hauser & Wirth Hong Kong is holding his first solo exhibition in East Asia. The title, “Frank Bowling. Like Water”, is a reference to what are known as his Poured Paintings, a series he began in the 1970s when he constructed a tilting platform and drenched his canvases with paint from above, layer after layer, to create a torrent of pure colour. His love of the world’s fluid beauty has been lifelong and, like water, he too has persisted against apparently immovable obstacles.

On a recent morning, he is, of course, at work. His 19th century studio, rented for many years from the local council, is in the aptly named Peacock Yard: you step out of a London-grey street and into a world so vibrant with colourful display that it takes your breath away.

These days, he directs the pouring process from a wheelchair. Several helpers, including his former personal trainer who was persuaded to exchange the gym for artistic workouts, are monitoring streams of paint down the room’s massive vertical canvases.