Jean Lowe; photo credit: Lili Kvantaliani
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
6 PM Reception; 6:30 PM Lecture
Please join us for an artist talk by Jean Lowe, San Diego-based multimedia artist. Lowe will unpack some of the humor, social critique, and rage that is threaded through her work regardless of form—with an emphasis on new video pieces made in collaboration with Lile Kvantaliani. These short skits borrow from reality shows such as Selling Sunset, Love is Blind, and cooking shows. She will be debuting her video episode Love is Blind: Boomer Edition as a part of her lecture, along with a variety of other unrelated short skits, situated within her overarching oeuvre. Join us for an elegant and erudite evening of thought and conversation. (Note: presentation may contain sexual innuendo, foul language, and smoking.)
Lowe was born in 1960 in Eureka, California. She received her BA from the University of California Berkeley in 1983 and her MFA from the University of California, San Diego in 1988, where she subsequently served as a lecturer from 1992 to 2008. Frequently employing satire, Lowe recontextualizes issues of the everyday to create a fresh perspective on seemingly banal issues. She is well-known for her long-running papier-mâché book project, which began in the early 90s.
Lowe’s mural for Murals of La Jolla, Tear Stains Be Gone, was on view from 2015 to 2020 at 7661 Girard Avenue. What at first glance looks like a billboard advertisement is actually Lowe taking a stance on societal norms and commercial advertising. In line with her signature blend of humor and cultural critique, Lowe speaks to her mural, “I'm just playing with the idea that you can buy something that's going to make you feel better or transform your life. Spoofing advertising signage is an organic way to drop an image into urban fabric”.
Lowe has received numerous awards and grants including a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant; a California Arts Council grant; the Alberta duPont Bonsal Foundation Purchase Award; and the CalArts/Alpert Ucross Residency Prize. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla; the California Center for the Arts Museum, Escondido; the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; and the University of California, San Francisco. She has had solo exhibitions with many notable institutions including Madison Center for the Arts, Madison, WI; Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH; The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO, The Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA and Nora Eccles Museum, Utah State University, Logan, UT. She lives and works in Encinitas, California.
Mural Members and Makers attend FREE and will receive an email to RSVP for the lecture.
The lecture will be in person at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library. There are no physical tickets for this event. Your name will be on an attendee list at the front door. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Seating is first-come; first-served. This event will be presented in compliance with State of California and County of San Diego health regulations as applicable at the time of the lecture.
Masks optional. If you have a fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms, please stay home.