Ray Lowry
Ray Lowry | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 28 August 1944 Cadishead, Salford,England |
| Died | 14 October 2008 Waterfoot, Lancashire,England |
| Nationality | English |
| Known for | Cartoonist,illustrator,satirist |
Ray Lowry(28 August 1944 – 14 October 2008) was an Englishcartoonist,illustrator andsatirist,possessing a highly distinctive style and wit. He contributed toThe Guardian,Private Eye,Punch,TatlerandNME,among many other publications. In his later years he lived inRossendale, Lancashire.
Life and work
[edit]Lowry was born the son of a bricklayer inCadishead, Salford,and attendedUrmston Grammar School.[1]He worked inManchesterand London, and, although he had no formal art education, he became known as a cartoonist during the 1970s. It was less well known that he was also a painter of urban landscapes, following in the footsteps of his unrelated namesakeL. S. Lowry.[1]
Ray Lowry drew cartoons for a wide range of publications. With the emergence of the underground press in the 1960s his work was published inOzandInternational Times,which led to a long and better-paid relationship with theNew Musical Express(better known asNME), including a weekly cartoon strip, "Only Rock'n'Roll". Lowry's love of rawrock and rollwas the perfect complement to the new punk mentality that emerged in the late 1970s. He saw theSex Pistolsat the Electric Circus in Manchester, on their Anarchy tour, and there metthe Clash.He struck up a friendship with the members of the Clash, which led to an invitation to accompany them on their tour of the United States in 1979. From this he created the artwork for the sleeve of their albumLondon Calling,using a photograph byPennie Smith.[1]
During the 1980s Lowry wrote a column inThe Faceand was a regular contributor toThe Guardian.He remained obsessed with rock and roll. Near the end of his life, he produced a long series of colour images inspired by the tour of the UK by the American rockersEddie CochranandGene Vincent.[1]
Lowry eventually moved to Rossendale in Lancashire. Although he no longer worked for periodicals, he never stopped painting and drawing. Near the end of his life he was taken up by the See Gallery inCrawshawbooth,Rossendale. An exhibition at the See in 2008 proved very successful and he began to plan new schemes, including paintings inspired by the novelUnder the Volcano,by another unrelated namesake,Malcolm Lowry.
After years of ill health, Ray Lowry died suddenly at the age of 64. He was found at his home inWaterfoot, Lancashire,on the morning of 14 October 2008.[2]
The Ray Lowry Foundation
[edit]The Ray Lowry Foundation was set up in 2009 by Lowry's son, Sam, and Julian Williams and Jackie Taylor of the See Gallery. The aim of the Foundation is to ensure that his work will be remembered and appreciated, and to create a fund in his name that will provide financial assistance and mentorship to individuals and art projects. This will include providing a scholarship to a student studying a course in art for a higher degree and making financial awards linked to individual art projects.[citation needed]
The Foundation has helped with placing Lowry's work as part of an exhibition about Malcolm Lowry at the BlueCoat Gallery,Liverpool,and a major public exhibition of Ray Lowry's own work at theSalfordGallery and Museum in December 2009.[citation needed]A major exhibition was planned forLeedsin 2010.[citation needed]
A retrospective of Ray Lowry's work was held at the Idea Generation Gallery, London, from 18 June to 4 July 2010, in aid of The Ray Lowry Foundation. As part of the exhibitionTracey Emin,Nick Hornby,Billy Childish,Harry Hill,Paul Simonon,Humphrey Oceanand 23 others contributed works and many produced reinterpretations of Ray Lowry's sleeve forLondon Calling(see above) in aid of the Foundation.[3][4]
After several years, work on the Ray Lowry Foundation project came to a halt due to personal issues and Sam's near fatal battle with alcoholism. All things regarding Ray's work were somewhat stalled until 2021.
Selected bibliography
[edit]- Collections of his work
- Only Rock 'n' Roll1980ISBN0-86104-320-0
- This Space to Let1986ISBN0-349-12208-3
- Ink1998ISBN1-899344-21-7
- As an illustrator
- The Penguin Book of Rock and Roll Writing1992ISBN0-14-016836-2
- Rock Talk1994ISBN1-899344-00-4
- Funny Talk1995ISBN1-899344-01-2
- A Riot of our Own: Night and Day with The "Clash"1997ISBN0-575-40080-3
References
[edit]- ^abcdDickinson, Bob."Ray Lowry obituary".The Guardian.
- ^"Ray Lowry 1944–2008".Mojo.14 October 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 16 October 2008.Retrieved15 October2008.
- ^Ray Lowry: London Calling, Idea Generation Gallery
- ^Godwin, Richard (15 June 2010)."London Calling again".Evening Standard.Archived fromthe originalon 17 June 2010.Retrieved16 June2010.
External links
[edit]
- People from Salford
- People from Waterfoot, Lancashire
- 20th-century English painters
- English male painters
- 21st-century English painters
- English satirists
- Punch (magazine) cartoonists
- British comics artists
- English cartoonists
- British comic strip cartoonists
- English illustrators
- British caricaturists
- Private Eye contributors
- 1944 births
- 2008 deaths
- People educated at Urmston Grammar
- 20th-century English male artists
- 21st-century English male artists