Rick Lowe

Rick Lowe has an extensive body of work in painting, drawing, and installation. His art is paired with collaborative projects inspired by the concept of "social sculpture." Working closely with individuals and communities, Rick Lowe explores ways to exercise creativity in everyday activities, delving into concerns around equity and justice. 

Biography of Rick Lowe 

Now residing in Houston, Rick Lowe hails from Russell County in rural Alabama. His early works include figurative "anti-paintings" inspired by the aesthetics and function of protest signage. Collaborating with social justice groups at community centers, protest rallies, and conferences, Lowe addressed issues such as police brutality, homelessness, poverty, and war. This exploration led the artist to delve deeper into the constructs that underpin political and social systems. Influenced by Joseph Beuys's concept of social sculpture, he became focused on developing projects transforming civic structures and sites.

In 1993, Lowe co-founded Project Row Houses in Houston’s Third Ward, a historically significant and culturally rich African American neighborhood. Collaborating with artists James Bettison, Jesse Lott, Floyd Newsum, Bert Samples, and George Smith, alongside neighbors and other creative minds, Lowe transformed a small area of derelict shotgun houses into a vibrant cultural district. This project unites groups and consolidates resources, creating sustainable opportunities for artists, young mothers, small businesses, and residents.

Inspired by his work in Houston, Lowe initiated and participated in various community enterprises across the United States and abroad. These include the artist-driven redevelopment organization Watts House Project in Los Angeles (1996–2012), a collaboration with British architect David Adjaye on a project for the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park (2005), and the creation of "Trans.lation: Vickery Meadow," a series of six pop-up community markets for the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas (2013).

One of his notable initiatives is the "Victoria Square Project" (2016–23) in Athens' Victoria Square neighborhood, created in collaboration with Maria Papadimitriou within the context of Documenta 14. Through establishing spaces for cross-cultural dialogue, Lowe and Papadimitriou facilitated connections between immigrants, refugees, and locals in a community marked by xenophobic tensions during the refugee crisis in Greece.

In addition to the artist's contributions to public and community spaces, he has exhibited his work in institutions around the world, including the Phoenix Art Museum, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Neuberger Museum of Art at Purchase College, State University of New York. 

In 2013, President Barack Obama appointed Rick Lowe to the National Council on the Arts, and in 2014 he was honored as a MacArthur Fellow. Lowe has held positions such as Distinguished Visitor at the Haas Center for Public Service at Stanford University, California; Mel King Community Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Community Innovators Lab (MIT CoLab) in Cambridge; and Loeb Fellow at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He became a tenured professor of interdisciplinary practice at the University of Houston in 2016.