Jim Lowe is a British abstract painter. Born in Bath in 1943, he attended King’s College School, Wimbledon, where his talent for drawing and painting were immediately recognised. He studied at Kingston School of Art (1960-64) and continued at the Royal Academy Schools (1964-67), where his tutors included Bryan Kneale, William Scott and Edward Bawden.
Early influences included Matisse, Klee, and the formal abstraction theories of Josef Albers; he was also very interested in the work of Bridget Riley and the potential of art to create a physical effect on the viewer. Another important influence was the New Generation sculpture movement of the 1960s, inspired by Sir Anthony Caro and involving fabricated sculptures with areas of flat colour.
In 1967, his painting Nineteen was awarded the Peter Stuyvesant Prize and the Arts Council Prize, and was exhibited in Young Contemporaries at the Tate 1967 as well as in an Arts Council touring show. In 1969 the Redfern Gallery presented a solo exhibition of his work, and in 1971 he appeared alongside John Carter, Kenneth Draper and Bryan Kneale in the exhibition Seven Redfern Artists.
Throughout his career, Lowe’s work has been characterised by the use of bright colours and abstract forms. The objective is always to make something exciting; to affect the viewer by setting up unexpected combinations and tensions that can be resolved in different ways.
There are three stages involved in making Lowe’s paintings. They begin as line drawings defining a visual experience, such as that of moving through a landscape or observing people. The shapes and colours are then painted in gouache onto watercolour board or paper. Finally, those shapes are used to create a wooden frame over which canvas is stretched and the colours are added in acrylic paint. This gives the finished works a certain depth (of around 2-7cm depending on the size of the overall piece), adding to the sense of a three-dimensional structure.
Formal ideas appear as a theme in individual works: for example, the balancing of different groups of shapes either side of a horizontal piece—as in Ochre Ground (2000) or Two Fold (1995)—or the illusion of movement created around a vertical axis in Green Pivot (1989) or White Slice (1990). The size of the painting and the precise balance of colour and tone are the means by which Lowe communicates the illusory dynamics of flat colour.
Constantly driven by the desire to make things, Lowe has always worked as a joiner as well as a painter (and has taught in both disciplines at various times in his career). Becoming somewhat disillusioned by the rise of conceptual art in the 1970s, and noticing the influence of abstract sculpture on furniture design, he considered devoting all his time to cabinet-making. However, he continued to paint, evolving his style to include more complex shapes and curves.
During this experimental period in the 1970s and 1980s he created a large number of flat gouache paintings, many of which were exhibited in a solo exhibition at Bath’s Festival Gallery in 1980.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was commissioned by art director Mike Dempsey to create the cover art for three sets of books in the Fontana Modern Masters series. Alongside other sets with artwork by Oliver Bevan, the covers received renewed interest a generation later, with writer James Pardey describing them in 2010 as “daring design classics” and publishing a website and poster dedicated to the series.
Living in Wales from the late 1980s to 90s, he continued to evolve a more organic style, exemplified by paintings such as Orange Fold (1991). In 1995 he held a solo exhibition entitled Dynamic Colour at the Theatr Mwldan in Cardigan, which was enthusiastically received by the local media.
In 2000 he returned to Bath, where his paintings were included in the Bath Area Network for Artists Open View exhibitions in 2003, 2005 and 2007; in Bath’s Chapel Row Gallery’s Valued exhibition in 2006, and in Bath Artists’ Studios Open Studios 2017. In 2013 a collection of paintings was shown at a solo exhibition at Eden House, Hallatrow, Somerset. He continues to create new work, with recent paintings including Green Snap (2016) and Cream Base (2017).
Jim Lowe’s paintings have been purchased for collections in the United Kingdom and United States of America including those of Leicestershire Education Authority and Alistair McAlpine.
To view a catalogue or for further information, please get in touch.
Early influences included Matisse, Klee, and the formal abstraction theories of Josef Albers; he was also very interested in the work of Bridget Riley and the potential of art to create a physical effect on the viewer. Another important influence was the New Generation sculpture movement of the 1960s, inspired by Sir Anthony Caro and involving fabricated sculptures with areas of flat colour.
In 1967, his painting Nineteen was awarded the Peter Stuyvesant Prize and the Arts Council Prize, and was exhibited in Young Contemporaries at the Tate 1967 as well as in an Arts Council touring show. In 1969 the Redfern Gallery presented a solo exhibition of his work, and in 1971 he appeared alongside John Carter, Kenneth Draper and Bryan Kneale in the exhibition Seven Redfern Artists.
Throughout his career, Lowe’s work has been characterised by the use of bright colours and abstract forms. The objective is always to make something exciting; to affect the viewer by setting up unexpected combinations and tensions that can be resolved in different ways.
There are three stages involved in making Lowe’s paintings. They begin as line drawings defining a visual experience, such as that of moving through a landscape or observing people. The shapes and colours are then painted in gouache onto watercolour board or paper. Finally, those shapes are used to create a wooden frame over which canvas is stretched and the colours are added in acrylic paint. This gives the finished works a certain depth (of around 2-7cm depending on the size of the overall piece), adding to the sense of a three-dimensional structure.
Formal ideas appear as a theme in individual works: for example, the balancing of different groups of shapes either side of a horizontal piece—as in Ochre Ground (2000) or Two Fold (1995)—or the illusion of movement created around a vertical axis in Green Pivot (1989) or White Slice (1990). The size of the painting and the precise balance of colour and tone are the means by which Lowe communicates the illusory dynamics of flat colour.
Constantly driven by the desire to make things, Lowe has always worked as a joiner as well as a painter (and has taught in both disciplines at various times in his career). Becoming somewhat disillusioned by the rise of conceptual art in the 1970s, and noticing the influence of abstract sculpture on furniture design, he considered devoting all his time to cabinet-making. However, he continued to paint, evolving his style to include more complex shapes and curves.
During this experimental period in the 1970s and 1980s he created a large number of flat gouache paintings, many of which were exhibited in a solo exhibition at Bath’s Festival Gallery in 1980.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was commissioned by art director Mike Dempsey to create the cover art for three sets of books in the Fontana Modern Masters series. Alongside other sets with artwork by Oliver Bevan, the covers received renewed interest a generation later, with writer James Pardey describing them in 2010 as “daring design classics” and publishing a website and poster dedicated to the series.
Living in Wales from the late 1980s to 90s, he continued to evolve a more organic style, exemplified by paintings such as Orange Fold (1991). In 1995 he held a solo exhibition entitled Dynamic Colour at the Theatr Mwldan in Cardigan, which was enthusiastically received by the local media.
In 2000 he returned to Bath, where his paintings were included in the Bath Area Network for Artists Open View exhibitions in 2003, 2005 and 2007; in Bath’s Chapel Row Gallery’s Valued exhibition in 2006, and in Bath Artists’ Studios Open Studios 2017. In 2013 a collection of paintings was shown at a solo exhibition at Eden House, Hallatrow, Somerset. He continues to create new work, with recent paintings including Green Snap (2016) and Cream Base (2017).
Jim Lowe’s paintings have been purchased for collections in the United Kingdom and United States of America including those of Leicestershire Education Authority and Alistair McAlpine.
To view a catalogue or for further information, please get in touch.
