Chris Lowery

Every day, Chris Lowery draws on small Rolodex cards he carries in his pockets, allowing him to draw at his own leisure and in various locations. His process involves using supplies at hand: ballpoint pens, coffee, white-out, craft paint, while also taking inspiration from song titles, artists’ names, and quotes from books, the radio, or something overheard. This lyrical chronology of Lowery’s life has resulted in twenty-six Rolodexes over the last eighteen years.

He says, “Ideally, the viewer sits with a Rolodex and looks through it, much like a book. In lieu of holding the Rolodex, I began creating videos. Once I started to think about the Rolodexes as a video project, I was compelled to pursue more text in the work, something that strengthens the narrative quality. The culmination of that process is ‘The Rolodex,’ a more traditional text work which serves as the anchor of this quartet of videos. I make the videos in my office at work over lunch breaks using my iPhone propped up by a jar of pencils and often with background music of a song listed in that Rolodex.”

About the Artist

Chris Lowery was born in Claremont, California–a kid of the 70s in a sunny, idyllic college town. His family moved to the Chicago suburbs when he was in high school, where he took his first art class. He graduated from Grinnell College in 1992 and received an MFA in printmaking from The University of Iowa. After graduating in 1996, he moved to Brooklyn, NY. He married his college sweetheart and together they raised two amazing daughters. All the while, he continued a daily practice of artmaking in various mediums, from small drawings to large installations. He continues to make art wherever he happens to be. Along the way, he has shown in group shows in and out of the New York City region. He has been the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Grant for Painting, a NYFA Artists Fellowship for his drawings, and most recently a PSC-CUNY Grant to print a Risograph book of his Rolodex Drawings. He is currently affiliated with the Bob Blackburn Printshop where he makes prints and volunteers as a monitor. He lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.